


Hunting Season

by Eguko



Series: The Hunting Series [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha Kageyama Tobio, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, BAMF Hinata Shouyou, Chases, Hunters & Hunting, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Not Beta Read, Omega Hinata Shouyou, Omega Verse, Politics, Royalty, Scenting, Scents & Smells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 124,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eguko/pseuds/Eguko
Summary: In the Kingdom of Karasuno, Omegas and Alphas participate in an ancient traditional festival where their instincts are unleashed. After years of laws in favor of the Alpha's rule, the festivities degenerated into hunting grounds for Alphas to display their prowess and skills. For the Omegas though, the festival became their hunting season.-----This story is being translated to italian by the wonderful morrigvn. You can find it here: https://efpfanfic.net/viewstory.php?sid=3948462
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru, Oikawa Tooru & Sugawara Koushi
Series: The Hunting Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093079
Comments: 683
Kudos: 1109
Collections: KageHina Fics





	1. The Primeveral Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sorry Shouyo.” A single tear followed her apology filled with guilt. “I’m so, so sorry”. Her words were barely a whisper.
> 
> “Don’t be.” His eyes were the ones watering now. “It was never your fault to begin with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! I decided to give it a go. After several months of binge reading fics and enjoying the creative minds of so many talented, diverse authors and styles, I decided to try my hand on an Omegaverse fiction. I decided to take what I liked from different sources, so I'm just enjoying myself as I write this.
> 
> I do have to warn you though. This is my first ever piece of fiction and I'm already embarrassed about it. So please be gentle, but I do encourage constructive criticism! I want to get better!
> 
> Also, english is not my native language, so if I'm messing up the grammar or the vocabulary, please let me know!
> 
> Welp! I hope you enjoy the story!

“Natsu. Don’t panic.” Hinata said in a slowly composed voice, a soft but stern command to the young girl. He was trying his best to calm her down and get a hold of his younger sister’s attention, whom seemed to be unable to get herself out of the initial shock after the transpired events. “Listen to me. I need you to focus.” He was staring intently at the girl, as if glaring hard enough would be enough to shake her out of her daze.

There was no answer from the trembling girl. She remained there, quivering while kneeling on the ground, looking back at him with her eyes wide open and her mouth in a similar gaping state, unable to reply or get a hold of the meaning of his words. It was her body now the one sending signals of alarm and alert, making her ears go numb at the fear and adrenaline that was coursing through her body. The pulsing pain of her scraped knee and bruised back doing nothing to counter the reason of her still and motionless self.

Hinata swallowed hard. His sister’s anxiety mixed with his fear was starting to sour the air and if he was right about who had set the traps in the first place, it would become a troublesome and dangerous combination. He had to force Natsu to escape. It was too late for him, he knew that, but if Natsu weren’t to escape now, he would never forgive himself. He had promised her mother that he would take care of his younger sibling, and ever since they had started their life in hiding, he had stand by it. To start breaking promises right now, when she needed him the most, was something he wasn’t about to do.

“Natsu! Please! Listen! You have to go back. Koji, Izumi and the others will be in danger if you don’t. You have to alert them about the traps. The forest is no longer safe.”

He heard the pleading in his own voice, but the girl just kept staring at him, shaking her head, forcing herself out of the daze; trying to reason with her fear in an attempt to make her own decisions. She had to find a way to help him, there had to be a way. She wasn’t going to just abandon him, was she?

She removed her eyes from her brother and started to scan the place, fighting with her own instincts to run away and follow her brother’s directions, scanning and searching for an answer, a way to make herself useful in their current situation, anything really, anything that would keep her from the guilt that had lock a permanent and very painful knot in her throat.

It was her fault. She knew it. Shoyou was probably thinking the same thing but he wouldn’t say it, he was just that nice. If she hadn’t insisted on going out today, if it weren’t for her clumsiness… If it weren’t for her not been paying attention… They could have avoided this. They would have seen the traps and her brother wouldn’t have had to push her out of the way getting caught himself instead…If she hadn’t been so naïve, they would be on their way back home by now, to alert their friends, their family…

“Natsu!” Hinata screeched. His previous calmed and collected demeanor gone in a final attempt to get the ginger’s attention. If she didn’t start her retreat now, there wasn’t much of a chance for her nor their friends back at their shelter.

Natsu flinched and looked back up gasping as the stupor vanished. The tears were now starting to overflow her eyes, as she understood her brother’s plea. Shouyo was as scared as she was, maybe even more; being him the one behind the bars, but he was making an effort to make her feel like he wasn’t. Like if he had everything under control, even when he was caught in a metallic cage meters above the ground, hanging like a trapped bird and with no way to get out of there. Even then, with his hands shaking furiously from where he held the metal bars, he was acting as if this was nothing to be afraid of and she… she wanted to believe him. No. She _had_ to believe him. Shouyo was her only real family left, sure, their childhood friends were their current pack and they had been on the run in this endless game of hide and seek for so long that they _felt_ like family, but they weren’t her true one. He wouldn’t leave her alone, he just couldn’t. He had _promised_. She swallowed the thorny lump in her throat in hopes that by pushing it down, the forsaking of her only brother would stab at her heart a little less strongly.

“Okay.” She mumbled looking down, unable to look at her brother in the eyes. Her heart breaking with the acknowledgment of what she was about to do. “I’m sorry Shouyo.” A single tear followed her apology filled with guilt. “I’m so, so sorry”. Her words were barely a whisper.

“Don’t be.” His eyes were the ones watering now. “It was never your fault to begin with.” He slowly let go the hold of the bar of his cage, relief making his hands to open in reflex as he saw his sister finally moving to start her retreat.

Natsu turned away, slowly moving one foot after the other, as if taking her time would somehow undo the horrible reality they were living. She would wake up magically from this horrible dream, and she and her brother wouldn’t have gone out to look for firewood, and Shouyo wouldn’t have shrieked her name in that nightmarish scary way, and she wouldn’t have gotten mad about being shoved to the ground thinking about how stupid her brother had been for pulling pranks like that for just a scare jump. She wouldn’t have felt her heart fell to the ground at the screeching sound of the metal contraption closing in on her brother nor she would have had to hear his pleas to her so she would abandon him here… all alone, in the middle of the forest imploring for her safety instead of his freedom or at least the chance of one. As if his fate hadn’t been already sealed right in that moment, in front of her, without her being able to do absolutely anything about it.

“Promise me….” Her voice broke. She swallowed forcefully the knot that still hung on her throat. “That you **will** come back.” She emphasized her words as the little courage she had left escaped through her words. “You have to” She finished in barely a whisper. She kept her gaze down, her hands in fists trembling by her side. She had her back to her brother, the guilt impeding her from looking back at him. She was abandoning him, retreating without putting up a fight; almost as if there was nothing she could do, guiltily relieved from the fact that she was still free, while her brother’s freedom had been taken in exchange.

“I will” He replied. One lonely tear threatened to escape now that her sister was not looking at him, his façade collapsing. And for once, he felt didn’t feel guilty about lying. If his words would make his sister safe, he wouldn’t mind about that little white lie.

Natsu started her retreat, walking at first and sprinting as she got further from her brother, he felt relieved enough to release the breath he had been holding. With her gone out of immediate danger, he felt his survival instincts kicking in, and despair started to crawl up his spine. He was trapped. Caged. He tried to fill his lungs slowly in an attempt to calm down so he could think. Every bone and fiber in his body screaming at the acknowledgment that he had a real small window of time to plan his escape. He cursed his genetics, he cursed his birth and finally he cursed his inability to do anything to change it.

He analyzed his surroundings, taking in everything his senses could gather. Sight, smells, noises, everything he had been learning and practicing during the last 4 years on the run. “A captured Omega is as good as a dead one”, the words from his pack echoed in an endless loop in his mind. Once caught he was certain that he wouldn’t see his family or friends ever again, he would be picked as cattle, forced to live as a mere tool of entertainment and pleasure, basically a slave or a pet or even a toy to be chewed and discarded. He would become someone’s possession, barely a shell of a human being just so he could fill his role in the dynamics hierarchy. If Hinata was certain of just one thing in his life, is that he would much rather choose a life on the run, filled with hunger, cold and exhaustion, than the physical and mental imprisonment of a bond.

With somewhat of a certainty, he concluded that his captors weren’t in the proximity, but he couldn’t be sure that they weren’t en route to his current location. He patted himself assessing his current inventory; he should have brought something to help him in this type of situation, a weapon, a stick, a tool, anything that could help him get out of his enclosure. His hands found a bulge protruding from his shorts. A knife.

“Of course!” He smiled. A small hope clung tightly to his heart.

They hadn’t been that dumb. It was one of the main rules they had to follow. Whenever they had to leave the shelter and go outside in search of supplies, they had to take some kind of weapon with them. Well, weapon was being maybe a bit generous in this case. The blunt overused knife had barely a sharp edge to be even called a knife; they used it more as a tool to gather supplies than an offensive weapon. At this point it would be more useful as a letter opener than a tool to defend themselves. It was to be expected though, they were supposed to flee if they encountered any dangerous situation, not get into risky ones, specially when they knew that with barely any training at combat, a sharp or blunt weapon would have had the exactly same outcome in a fight against a Lodger, but having a weapon had the calming psychological effect that not having one hadn’t.

Grabbing the weapon tightly with both hands as in fear of it falling through the gaps of his enclosure, he stopped to assess the cage that held him captive. It was a light iron spherical cage; it probably had a spring mechanism that sprung to life and locked the pieces in place once some type of pressure was put on its center. The cage was big enough to fit him completely somewhat comfortably, but probably it wouldn’t be as comfy if he had been a slightly bigger prisoner, but his compact size let him maneuver somewhat freely inside the cage. This was the first time he would be grateful about his short stature, even if he weren’t to admit it out loud.

Kneeling on the bars and using his toes and heels as anchors as to not fall over, he tried to get a glimpse of the mechanism that held the cage locked in place. It proved to be difficult to get hold of the top of the spherical cage while trying to maintain his balance. Whenever he moved to try to see the top part, the cage would swing with the shift of weight, making him loose his balance and hit his elbows, knees and sides. _So there had been another reason for the cage to be lifted up after its activation_ , he thought, cursing every time he lost his balance and hit the iron bars. After a couple of tries, he finally managed to grab the top part and by using his own weight and tight grip on the bars of the cage, he forced it to roll over enabling him to see what he was working with.

The wire that held the cage in the air was reinforced and metallic looking. There was no way that the blunt weapon was going to be able to cut through. He felt relieved that Natsu hadn’t stayed to try ineffectively to cut the wire, loosing time and the only tool they had in the process.

“Well, there goes plan A.” He chuckled to himself in a resigned kind of way.

He started to analyze the mechanism that held the cage in place. If there was a way to shove the spring back enough to force the cage open, he should be able to lodge himself free, applying enough strength against the cage's middle section. He looked at the floor, trying to estimate the height that separated him from the floor. A fall from that altitude would hurt; no doubt, but probably wouldn’t break anything. _Probably_ being the key word here.

“I’m not getting captured today.” He mumbled as a kind of mantra. “I have to go back.” He closed his eyes as he calmed his shaking hands with a deep breath and started to poke the mechanism with the knife. He would have to get the knife's blade in front of the spring and try to shove it back while using his foot to create a gap in the middle section. If his foot managed to get through, wiggling his way out wouldn’t be that hard, it was probably going to hurt like hell as the spring would try to lock the cage again, pressuring his body against the edge of the cage as he pushed himself out, but if he was careful enough to not let his neck unprotected, it wouldn’t be risky; just a couple of bruises and sore places, nothing he wasn't feeling already. The shoving of the spring shouldn’t have been difficult either, but the need to hold his position, balance and grip strength were proving to be challenging enough for the omega.

“Damn Alphas!” He cursed when his applied force made the knife to slip and slide dislodging itself from the spring’s protected location.

He took a deep breath and started to work again. He blamed himself, he had been so careless, and he had even put Natsu at risk, Natsu, _his little sister_ , who had just recently and fearfully presented as an Omega. He knew the festivities were close, too close. He had been overconfident, too optimistic. The forest had been trap free since they had arrived nearly two years ago, so what where the odds of Lodgers coming to their forest when they hadn’t seen one since their arrival? It had been the longest they had been without a close encounter with those who profited with their misery. They thought they were free. They thought they had escaped, that by living on the outskirts of society they would be spared, but, of course, they _had_ to be proven wrong.

The festivities, or more formally known as the Primeveral festival, took place during their Kingdom’s spring season. The name of the festival came from the play on the words primavera and primeval, suggesting that the original intent was the celebration of their dynamics and ancestor’s customs, where their primeval instincts came to play in what could be summarized as a passionate game of tag. Even though there had not been official records on how it had originally started, the tales of the elder population justified their origins by retelling the stories of its humble beginnings. Some spoke about a game, others preferred the term tradition, but the most common were the tales of celebration and encouragement, a way to commemorate their dynamics in the old art of the hunt.

Since its foundation, the Kingdom of Karasuno had held the record of most dynamic based population in the continent. Nobody knew the real reason behind the abnormal amount of Omegas and Alphas on the kingdom’s population, but be it a curse or a blessing, the Kingdom embraced and celebrated their unusual biotype. The festival took place in the middle of the spring season, where forest bloomed in foliage and the warmer weather lured Alphas and Omegas alike to participate in a thrilling game of sorts, where Omegas would try to run and hide, while Alphas would give chase relying completely on their instincts and senses in a way to celebrate and encourage the use of their dynamics in a wild and exhilarating pursuit.

It had started as a way to encourage shy and timid younglings to embrace their dynamics and start courtships. Young Alphas would try to chase Omegas while the Omegas would guide prospecting Alphas to their hiding places in an attempt to awaken their instincts and help them develop their corresponding dynamics in a healthy and reassuring way. The game would end when an Alpha captured an Omega and both would return at the end of the day between giggles and blushes to their corresponding families. It was just that, a simple game of tag.

It would happen, more often than not, that the tagged pairings would be deemed as fated by the kingdom, meaning promises of wealth and auspicious outcomes for the matching couples. Such believes became so meaningful for the participating youngsters and their respecting families, that soon enough the festivities evolved as a way for noble and common families alike to establish relationships and arranged marriages. Heads of noble families would bring their heir prospects in an attempt to lure wealthier, important families and settle betrothal arrangements. It was because of this, that it became custom for Omegas to present a piece of clothing, (most commonly a handkerchief) with their own scent, to suitable matches, showing their interest in the Alpha and allowing an advantage during the chase. All this was, of course, pre arranged by the corresponding families and the festivities became a way to propose and publicize arranged marriages and publicly announce their future bonding.

The peculiarity of the Primeveral festival brought an interest to the neighboring countries, allowing a flowing number of noble and common folk alike to participate in the games resulting in a blooming marketplace, transforming the week of the festival in a golden opportunity for the Kingdom, creating jobs for their people and stimulating their market, their trading and the Kingdom’s riches.

Life was good and the festival and their traditions grew fondly in the hearts of their people, until everything was forced to change when the heir of Karasuno, crown prince Arata, participated in his first Primeveral Festival.

As per tradition, whenever a royal member participated in his or her first hunt, all participating Omegas would present their piece of cloth to the monarch. It was just a way to appease customs, all participants having been already matched to begin with, but the young prince was not satisfied with the pair his parents had decided for him, because from their neighboring country, Shiratorizawa, the most beautiful Omega he had ever laid his eyes upon, had given him a piece of their clothing. He was supposed to chase the daughter of an important aristocratic family, a union that his parents had decided for him since before he had being born. But he didn’t care. If the festival were a way to use their customs and traditions in his favor, he would use them in accordance to his will.

Once the hunt was over, having successfully captured the Omega from Shiratorizawa, he forcedly bonded them, causing an uproar of such magnitude that shook the country to its core and threatened the kingdom with the prospects of war.

Chaos and resentfulness attacked the royal family. There was no way to appease the affected noble families without changing the rules of the festival themselves. In an attempt to right what had been wronged and protect their own son and country, the royal family hit over the slab of what would become the first one of a long lasting domino effect that would change forever the lives and freedom of the Omegas of Karasuno.

The first royal decree announced that all events that transpired while the duration of the hunt would be legal and backed up by the castle. This meant that all bondings, forced or consensual, would have binding consequences for both parties, giving a blind eye to rowdy Alphas and forcing the Omegas bonded during the hunt to be married off to the Alpha who took hold of them.

Having heard about the low rates of Omegas on Shiratorizawa and the declined of healthy childbirths from their neighbors, a measure to suppress the rage from the Shiratorizawa’s crown was proposed in the form of an invitation to participate on their festival as hunters, granting the much needed Omega population to the Alpha dominated Kingdom for as long as peace were to be held between the two countries. The king came to the conclusion that the yearly offering of a couple of subjects was barely a sacrifice when they took into account the military prowess and destruction the neighboring country could muster.

In a surprising act of mercy, fueled by regret and compassion, the king decided to offer the Omegas a chance to keep their freedom. With the excuse of stimulating the hunt for Alphas and refraining the unwilling participation from Omegas, it was announced that any participant that hadn’t been captured by the time the festival ended, were to be let free and go back to their own families, never to worry again about participating in the festival. This announcement settled the shattering on the festivities’ objectives for both parties. For Alphas the festival had become a real and exhilarating hunting game, for Omegas, it had turned into one of survival.

To honor his words, a hunting ground was erected in the kingdom, a place created solely for the purpose of a fair hunt. Secluded nature, rivers, mountains and wild animals, everything a person would need to thrive and hide while creating a challenging and thrilling environment for Alphas to run loose and wild.

With time, though, the unsuitable prospect for wealthier families to be forced to marry off their heirs to commoners and the fear of Omegas to be forced in a relationship that didn’t bring them happiness nor safety, created a decline of willing participants on the hunt. Fearing the backslash of their Alpha population, the endangerment of the economic benefits that came from the festival, and of course, the looming menace of a war from Shiratorizawa, the king was forced to, once more, edict a law that would help diminish the gap between hunters and prey.

This new decree forced the participation of every newly presented Omega by demanding their partaking on the festivities on the corresponding year of their presentation. This was accompanied by immediate remuneration to their families as a monetary incentive in case of an unfavorable match as the outcome of the hunt.

Seeing the threat that the crown was imposing on the lives and freedom of their Omegas, wealthier families that weren’t in the need of quick cash, started to ship their Omegan heirs to neighboring kingdoms. Kingdoms where laws weren’t as twisted as they had become in Karasuno, countries where their heirs wouldn’t be at the mercy of their own abilities, but rather their family’s ties and connections. For the unluckier and penniless ones, Omegas became a source of income. As noble born Omegas started to get out of the game, families with needs, hunger and desperation started to sell their own daughters and sons to wealthy Alpha families so they could participate in the hunt. It wouldn’t take too much time for people to start raiding villages and kidnapping those without families only to take advantage of the money given to them when "their children" were taken to the hunting grounds.

It didn’t come as a surprise that fear and despair would take over the Omegan population. Caring parents fearing their own fate would be casted upon their children, tried to flee the country and take refugee on their neighboring ones, causing a mass exodus of the Omegan population and a severe decline on childbirths. Fearing the repercussions of such actions, a final decree was written; a law that forbid any Omega to leave the realm. A command that implied that any Omega caught in the attempt of leaving the country would be considered a traitor, in which, by forfeiting their obligation with their own nation of bearing sons and daughters for their kingdom, they were endangering their realm and would be forced to rectify their wrongdoings by bonding with an Alpha chosen by the crown. A law that effectively transformed every Omega in the Kingdom into a walking bag of gold, by offering a handsome reward for any suspected traitor brought to justice.

This final decree, plus the previous monetary compensation offered to those who brought Omegas to participate on the Primaveral festival, gave birth to Lodge houses; shelters that connected people in need of money and merchants looking for buyers of hunting goods. People desperate for quick bucks and cunning salesmen who knew how to get good prices for interesting Omegas to satisfy clientele, noble and common folk alike. Havens in which all their yearly business took place in just the couple of weeks previous to the Primeveral Festival, the time when laws were flexible and sins were forgiven.

This was Hinata Shouyo’s reality. He, an Omega born in Karasuno, years into forced hiding due to laws that pre dated his own existence, currently caged by traps set by Lodgers, men who were on the lookout for Omegas to sell to noble houses. Omegas that would be forced to participate in a hunting event during the Primeveral festival, in a double edged chance to retain his freedom, during a festival that had lost its meaning and purpose since long time ago. A cursed freedom that he, and his sister Natsu, had fought so hard to uphold and had failed miserably by not being careful enough. By being too naïve to think that their forest was far enough, that they were special, that laws hadn’t applied to them just because they were already suffering from injustice.

He had been stupid. He had been careless. He had hoped that his mom’s sacrifice had been enough, that her being taken away when he was barely a child had been enough to satisfy the karma of being born an Omega. But he had forgotten that the world didn’t care about their suffering or circumstances. The only thing that mattered was the knife between his fingers and the force he was applying to the spring of the cage and the noise it was making against the metal cage every time he failed to exercise the correct pressure.

A scent caught in the upwind brought a chill to his spine bolting all his senses back to life. A couple of miles from where he was caged, he could smell a small group of Alphas coming his way. The Lodgers. No doubt about it.

His instincts were sent to overdrive; he had minutes before the group acknowledged his captivity. If he could smell them, it was probable that they could smell his anxiety. He may have had a rustic scent patch on him, but the intensity of the fear he was feeling in those moments would become a telltale for sure. He had to get out of the cage in the next seconds if he hoped for any attempts at escaping.

“… I swear! I could smell one around this area!” The sound of the voice was distant and got tangled with the noises of their surroundings, but Hinata was able to distinctly separate it from the forest background noise. He realized he was running out of time as he forced the knife back against the spring one more time. His right foot was struggling to get in between the mid center of the spherical cage, but he was making progress. Even with his small frame, the young Omega was trying his best to use his whole body strength to get himself out of the cage.

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but we haven’t seen or capture anything in the last couple of days.” Somebody replied. “The festival is in two more weeks and it will be the first hunt of the crown prince. I really don’t think wasting our time here is a good idea.”

“And what if you are mistaken and there are no Omegas?” A third one teased back. “We would have lost a week for nothing! I demand a compensation if the cages turn up to be empty.” There was laughter coming from the group, a leisure pace that clashed so heavily against Hinata’s desperate focus on his task at hand. The spring had being pushed back successfully enough for his boot to make way into an opening. He just had to push the spring a little bit longer and further back while keeping his balance and grip for his other foot to follow. Then, it would be a piece of cake.

“Okay then! I captured the freckled one” The man answering back was ready to challenge his companion. “So, if there is no one in the traps, I’ll give you my share of the sale on that one. What about that?” His offer was received with a whistle and encouraging noises. “But if there is an Omega here, I’ll get _your_ share of the sale on _this one_.”

“Done!”

More clapping and laughter as the men kept on teasing one another. “You’ll be loosing money though.” The challenger teased him once more. “I can assure you that there is at least one or more Omega in this forest. The tracks are all there and the sweet smell of candied oranges was lingering around the river. Forests do not smell like that. Animals do not smell like that either” The voice waited for a rebuttal, but it didn’t come. “See? You know I’m right. There are Omegas in this forest." He paused as the other men remained in silence. "It’s just a matter of how to lure them out.”

The way the voice paused before finishing the thought brought a chill to Hinata’s body. The overconfidence and the threatening way of how he seemed to have smirked through his words made Hinata work at double speed. They were so close. He could smell them; he could hear them and most certainly, it was a matter of seconds before _they_ would be able to see _him_.

With desperation in his body and fear trembling fists, he put all his force on the knife until he heard a clanking sound announcing that the spring was all the way back and he felt how by kicking his feet up opened the spherical cage with almost no resistance at all. Now he had to start pushing his body out, being extra careful when his upper body came in contact with the edge as it would mean that no pressure was keeping the spring from locking the cage again. He would have to be quick, no time to carefully slide out and onto the ground. He would have to drop himself from the cage, to the ground. He tried to assess the height one more time. Yes… probabilities of an injury were high, but they meant nothing when comparing it to loosing his freedom.

“Hey! Look at that! I was right!” The man chuckled.

The chipper voice broke Hinata’s focus and doubled the intensity of his anxiety. He had been spotted. He no longer had the time to carefully analyze his possible scenarios; he had only seconds now if he wanted a chance to flee. He swung his feet together and started violently shake himself out of the cage. It wasn’t intentional, he was just desperate, fear and panic making the subtle movements he needed to escape impossible to muster. The whole cage started to ramble and shake, there was no point in trying to be subtle; he had already being discovered by his captors.

“What is he doing…” The trio of Lodgers had stood in place assessing the noise, the rattling movements Hinata was making, half amused and half confused as what was happening in front of them. It was when Hinata’s body fell unceremoniously to the ground that the three of them realized in shocked surprise that their little bird was out of the cage about to fly away.

“Hey! Wait! Hey!!” One of them yelled in shock raising his hand towards Hinata as if his words and the gesture were enough to make the Omega stop his escape.

“Shit!” The other cursed back. “Quick! He is getting away!”

As if the spell had been broken, the three men sprinted after the ginger who had already started dashing in the opposite direction of the Lodgers. He was really quick on his feet; years of running and escaping made wonders to the stamina and agility of a growing young man.

“Damn! The brat is fast!” The man who had being boasting about being right this whole time breathed out. “This is going to be fun!” He shoved his head back as he picked up his pace cackling into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is a wrap for chapter one! I had my doubts if I wanted to end it up to that point or continue a little further, but as I'm still writing the other chapters I'm not sure how lengthy they are going to get, so I decided to cut chapters to around 6000 words. Let's see if I can continue like that.
> 
> I really hope this has piqued your interest! I'm really enjoying myself writing it.


	2. The goods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there were two! Phew! I planned to add a lot more in this chapter, but it unexpectedly got too long, so there is probably material for a new chapter all together! (whoops!)
> 
> I’m trying to keep characters as ”in character” as possible, BUT… I have read so many fanfics that what is cannon and what’s not has seriously made a mess in my characterization for some of these. I blame the amazing writers for that.
> 
> Thank you SO much for the views, comments and kudos! It means the world to me to see people interested in this weird thing I’m writing, it makes me so happy. If you have questions, ideas or critiques, feel free to leave them! I’ll be answering them when I post the next chapter!

One could say that Oikawa Tooru had it all. In the looks department, he had great hair, beautiful eyes, and a soft and harmonious voice. He was the firstborn son of the union of the former King and the late first queen consort, a prince loved by his subjects and doting family. He had managed to gather a mighty powerful network of his own with the use of his cunning and ambitious mind. His subjects and retainers followed him without a question or the need of a command, because Oikawa Tooru had made himself a power to be reckoned with. He became a master in strategies and war, a skillful mediator with his diplomacy and manners, and mastered many other talents in his continuous pursuit of the throne.

That’s why it became such a heartbreaking thing to witness the exact moment that all his efforts where proven meaningless, when, right in front of his eyes, his younger brother, without the need of lifting a single finger during his entire lifetime – according to one Oikawa Tooru -, had been given the title of crown prince; making Tooru no longer the next rightful heir to the Kingdom of Karasuno.

Kageyama Tobio, first son of the king’s second consort and the younger of the two siblings. He was a withdrawn, but handsome young man with barely any social skills or resolve to rule a kingdom. He was the complete opposite of Oikawa. Sure, he had the looks, scowls and the attitude that would make any type of Alpha to submit to his commands, but what he had in presence, he lacked in finesse.

Oikawa hated it.

In the older brother’s eyes, Kageyama hadn’t even shown interest in the crown, at all. All he had ever done was to hone his archery skills, day and night. He was unable to held conversations with the noble houses, a man uninterested in the matters of the kingdom and their economy, not even caring to learn how his country worked or what was to be expected from him. And even knowing all of this, his father, the king, had given the crown to him. He had chosen his younger son over Oikawa, just because the older lacked the only thing that he wouldn’t be able to ever obtain.

Oikawa _really_ hated it.

What Oikawa hated the most though, was that he had a secret. One so powerful that had forced him to step down in his never-ending pursuit of the throne. The people of the kingdom knew that Oikawa, as heir, was supposed to receive the title of crown prince at the time he presented as an Alpha, but when the time came, he never did. Instead, they were surprised with the public announcement of his serious medical condition that forced the title to be granted to the younger brother in his stead.

Rumors started to spread far and wide inquiring about the type of illness the prince had developed to forbid him from participating in public events, such as the Primeveral festival. The implications of him not joining, made it painfully obvious that he was in no condition of getting better anytime soon, and so, the kingdom of Karasuno made peace with the idea that their future king was to be a scowling and frightening man instead of the charismatic leader that they had hoped for.

“But why?! It’s so unfair!” His mother was holding a younger crying Oikawa tightly in her arms, using one of her hands to rub circles in his back, trying to appease the hiccups of the child. “Nobody would know! Why does it matter what I am! I know I can do it! I have worked all my life for this!” He clenched his mother robes as more sobs came down his throat. It had been so unfair. All his work, all his effort, just for a stupid thing as biology to take his dreams away.

He had recently presented his secondary gender and was fortunate enough that his closest friend and personal knight Iwaizumi Hajime was with him when his first heat came knocking the wind out of his body. A high fever and a complicated illness were the lies told to the servants, and only a selected trusted confidants were the ones responsible to take care of the young prince.

“I know my prince. I know. But you must understand my dear.” Her mother cooed as she patted his head. “It’s too risky. If word were to spread that the crowned heir of the Kingdom was an Omega, you would be chased and forced to bond in the hunt. The kingdom could fall in the wrong hands and be destroyed by selfish people. By not taking the crown, you are preventing it from happening.” She held Tooru’s cheeks with her soft hands, using her thumbs to wipe a tear sliding down his frame.

”Imagine that somebody from Shiratorizawa were to take claim of you.” Oikawa closed his eyes, letting more tears to fall freely from his eyes. “We would stop being a free nation.” She paused, as to emphasize her next words. “We would finally become theirs to own.” Her brown eyes were soft and caring as she looked intently into his son’s as if by her soft gaze she would be able to quell all his sufferings.

Yes. It was unfair, but it was also the right thing to do. Her last statement rang so true in his mind. The treaty signed with their neighbors had been overlooked by the original king that accepted the agreement. A subject a year had seemed so insignificant at the moment of securing peace that the _real_ reason behind the settlement had gone completely unnoticed. It wasn’t until the first couple decades had passed that the neighbor country’s plan started to bear fruits.

Shiratorizawa’s Alphas, as per the signed treaty, would participate in hunts organized by the king himself. This meant that the Alphas and Omegas that took part on the king’s hunting grounds were all the sons and daughters of noble and powerful families, so when the heirs of the main noble houses started to be married off to the heads of Shiratorizawa nobility, the political pressure that the neighboring country started to exert to influence economical trades, taxes, laws, territorial disputes and resources sent their way, was too much for Karasuno to deny. By the time they noticed their true intentions, it was already too late.

As a form of protection, Karasuno’s nobility prompted the mass Omegan exodus. It had been Shiratorizawa, once again, the ones to force the hand in the passing of the law that forbid Omegas to escape their country and encouraged the idea of the kidnapping and selling of “traitorous” Omegas, all in the pursuit of climbing the aristocratic ladder.

Oikawa knew his mother was right, but it didn’t make it hurt less. He was in no position to take the throne. Maybe if he bonded with a trusting Alpha? No, an Alpha, trusted or not, would never give him the power to do so, besides, the laws of the Kingdom already demanded for the crown to be taken by an alpha descendant of the first king, so, bonded or not, the only way for him to actually reign would have to be the creation of a new law, and only a king had the power to do so. He was no king, and he would never be one.

He spent that night being cradled by his mother, patted on the back and wiped from all his tears. He promised himself to never shed a tear once again over this matter. He would smile and bow his head to his younger brother and with the help of blockers, suppressants and a trusting circle of followers; he created a mask to wear and a secret to keep. He bowed to himself that night that even if the world robbed him from the throne, he would rather die before he stopped trying to seize it. Kageyama was still young, there was time, he would find the way, and he would make sure of that.

The only problem with dreams and aspirations though, is that fate isn’t one to care much about them.

With the king’s sudden passing, all the crown responsibilities were bestowed upon the younger brother way sooner than Oikawa had anticipated and all the planning and strategizing he had spent his last years on, quickly turned into dust.

The inexperienced young prince was asked to wait before claiming the throne until the official participation on his first hunt, which would take place on the following year, setting the deadline on how much time Oikawa had left to find a solution to his dilemma. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. After 4 years of the promise he had made to himself and at only a couple of weeks from the dreaded Primeveral Festival, Oikawa found himself bitterly kicking the pebbles laying on the clay curb of the enclosed hedges, defeat upon his shoulders and the pent up years of resentment and misdirected anger having created a thick wall between him and his younger brother.

“Oi, Shittykawa. If you keep on glooming the mood I’ll hit you hard enough till you get a real reason to be pissed about.” Iwaizumi growled from the bench he was sitting on.

The secluded area in the castle garden had become their safe and personal venting space. Having not many private locations around the palace, beside his personal chambers, the two friends had discovered this hidden location when they were kids, on a game of hide and seek against an even younger Tobio. Both children couldn’t believe the existence of the place and never told anyone about it. At first Oikawa had done it to Kageyama out of childish spite, who hated to be left out of his games, but ever since Oikawa presented, they had started to use it as a sacred ground, the only place in the palace where they could discuss, curse and plot, without the fear of being overheard.

“Iwa-chaaaan!” Oikawa let his head hang limply at his back while using his friend name to loudly sigh in frustration. “You don’t understand!” He had straighten his frame and turned to lock eyes with Iwaizumi. He stomped the ground in a childlike manner. “He doesn’t _want_ the throne. He is not even interested in politics or the economy! He just _gets_ to have it!”

“I understand, but see it as-“

“No! You don’t!” Oikawa interrupted throwing his hands up in the air. Gesturing to the air as his frustration was getting the best of him. “It’s ridiculously unfair. I’ve been preparing my whole life for it! _My whole life!_ ” He turned to look at Iwaizumi before starting to pace around again. "When I presented as an Omega I saw it as a challenge, an opportunity to show all those bigoted Alpha nobles that good ideas and hard work are worth more than a biology test. I want change Iwa-Chan!" He stopped his pacing and faced Iwaizumi again. “I’ve been training, studying, making my own name out there for this kingdom and for what? For my _little brother_ who doesn’t even **have** to put in the effort to be where he is or to get what he wants!” He had changed the inflection of his voice while jabbering, properly mocking his brother in the process.

“Why do you think that is?” Oikawa asked while uncurling his extended hand towards his friend in a grimacing gesture. Like he was asking the easiest question in the world.

“Because he is an Alpha.” Iwaizumi replied monotonously with barely a facial expression. It wasn’t the first time they have had this type of conversation

“Because he is an Alpha!” Oikawa all but shouted while flailing his arms as protest. He let out a loud growl at the air and pulled at his hair out of frustration before collapsing on the bench next to his friend. “It’s just not fair.” He finished in a deflated tone.

Slumped as he was on the stone cold bench, he placed his elbows on his thighs and rested his head on his hands. He remained like that for the duration of a long defeated sigh. Iwaizumi just stared at him debating if he should pat his back or if he just did what was his usual way of handling an Oikawa outburst; absolutely nothing.

“You know?” Oikawa asked after a couple of seconds of silence. He turned his head to look directly at Iwaizumi’s eyes, locking him in place at the sight of complete loss. He had never seen Oikawa making such a heart breaking expression. “I really thought that if I truly wished for it and worked real, reaal hard, I would actually be able to prove them wrong.” He turned to face up front, staring at the topiaries that hid them from the rest of the palace. He sighed, shoulders sagging as he let the air out. “I guess I was wrong.” A pause. “There is really no place for an Omega like me in a kingdom dominated by Alphas. It doesn’t matter how hard I hit the wall, the world won’t let me break it.”

A completely broken Oikawa was a sight Iwaizumi thought was intrinsically wrong with the order of the world. His smile gone, his singsong voice replaced by someone he couldn’t recognize and that look of utter defeat on his face. He had never seen something that hurt him so deeply as the current expression the eyes of his prince were making.

“That is not true.”

“Huh?”

A stunned Oikawa turned to stare at his best friend, confusion spread all over his features. Iwaizumi was looking the most determined he had seen him in his life. It scared him a little.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Iwaizumi growled. “I thought that all these past years of whining and complaining about injustice and whatnot were enough.” He had leaned towards Oikawa as he started chewing him out. “Listen me here you dumbass! Don’t you ever forget that you are as powerful and demanding and capable as any other shitty Alpha! Heck! I’ve met Alphas that don’t even come close to a quarter of your talents and skills, so don’t you dare throw away that… that…” He stumbled finding the right words to describe his friend stubbornness. “That… pride of yours! Of who you are, and what you can do just because someone else was born in a more privileged position than yourself.” By now Oikawa had leaned further and further back as Iwaizumi loomed above him glaring intently.

The knight sighed and stepped back, giving the prince the space he needed to breathe and compose himself after the knight’s outburst.

“Don’t you dare forget! You are more than an Omega. You are a prince, a commander and a leader.” Hajime crossed his arms in front of his chest, sizing the prince with his stare. “If you don’t believe in yourself and your abilities to change this country, then what would that make me? I wasn’t _ordered_ to be your knight. I _wanted_ to be it, so one day I could proudly serve a worthy ruler, independently of their status.”

Iwaizumi’s stare was heavily locked on Oikawa’s. The prince didn’t know what to do or what to say. It was the first time that he had seen his best friend being so bold and direct about his opinion about him, and being honest, it was the first time being so positive about them. Tooru had never heard him compliment him in such a way. It made his heart fill full of _something_ and his body reacted by breaking into laughter.

“Iwa-chan!” He stopped mid laugh to wipe a tear from his eye. “It’s really nice to know you care about me.”

He smiled teasingly while getting closer to the knight, only to receive a punch on his left arm.

“Shut up!” Iwaizumi growled back, getting caught easily on the charming taunts from the prince. “You were being stupid, so I just told you what you needed to remember.”

“Thank you Hajime.” The tone had lost his playfulness, words filled with gratitude. Iwaizumi was really a good friend.

“Just remember that you are not alone, and definitely still on the game. Yahaba, Hanamaki, Matsukawa even! Everyone who decided to follow you did it becasue they believe in you and what you can bring to the kingdom, so don’t let us down.”

Oikawa let out a chuckle as a response.

“I only need to discuss my ideas with the crown prince, right? How hard can it be?” He asked up to the air, waiting for no reply whatsoever as he knew that the challenge wasn’t _asking_ Kageyama to step down from the throne, but rather to _actually_ get to talk to him. Trying to fix years of resentment and jealousy with just a charismatic smile and good intentions? Yeah… it wasn’t going to be easy for Oikawa.

“I know what you are thinking Tooru, and it’s your own damn fault. So you better get your ass working on how to fix your lousy relationship with your brother.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier if we just get rid of him? We could just bury the body and nobody would ask questions.”

He received a smack on the head as an answer.

“Not only you would earn my personal hatred, but you also need him to actually pass the law and give you the throne _after_ his crowning as king. So no. It wouldn’t be easier Crappykawa.”

“You don’t have to be mean!” Oikawa whined, rubbing his head. “I was just joking!”

Both friends stood on the garden in silence for a minute. The idea of asking his brother for the throne directly wasn’t a thing Oikawa had wanted nor liked at the beginning. From his long lists of possible scenarios on how to get his hands on the crown, begging his little brother and having to explain the whole Omega situation made him itchy and uncomfortable.

After the King’s decision of skipping his heir and to pass the crown to his youngest child, Oikawa could not help but feel betrayed and unfairly punished for being an Omega. Unfortunately for Kageyama, the older brother misplaced his anger on him as if it were solely Kageyama’s fault that his work and sacrifice were in vain. This brought a complicated turn in the brothers’ relationship, up till the point of shattering the trust and friendship they once had. Oikawa gave him his back and never again offered solace in his presence. Kageyama, feeling abandoned by his brother and only friends, turned his attention to archery and his studies, withdrawing himself further and further each passing day. Now, after years of a very broken and complicated relationship, Oikawa found himself in the need of mending it, his monstrous pride and irrational anger coming to bite him in the rear.

Oikawa sighed in defeat. “I’ll talk to him tonight.” Iwaizumi lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. “At dinner.” Oikawa continued, making Iwaizumi to arch his eyebrow even higher. “After our guests have gone to bed so nobody will overhear. Stop looking at me like that!! I swear I’ll do it today!” Oikawa whined back at him getting caught in his friend's taunt.

He knew the reason for Iwaizumi’s doubts; he had been a coward all week long already, having gone to talk to his brother multiple times only to end up insulting or riling him up about how he was going to be a lousy king or how he didn’t have the skills to be able to successfully finish his first hunt. He really wanted to make amends about all these years of bitterness, teasing and hurtful comments, but there was just…. something that made it impossible for Oikawa to ask for forgiveness.

“It’s not like you have much time left. With the festival in a couple of days, the castle will be filled with guests from all over. If you can’t discuss things with Tobio soon, once he gets crowned, it will become even harder.” Hajime placed his hand under his chin as if contemplating. “What do you know? He may like being king after all.” He smirked teasingly at the prince.

“UGH! Shut up! As if I didn’t know it already! I just… I just…” Oikawa clenched his fists angrily.

Before he could finish his thoughts though, a familiar voice came from the surrounding area.

“Your highness” The voice came calling for Oikawa. After all these years, Sawamura Daichi, captain of the royal guard, had never found their secret venting spot. He _knew_ it was around the garden somewhere, so whenever he lost track of the whereabouts of the young prince and his following knight, he just guessed they could be hanging around the area.

Both friends nodded, leaving the matter as settled for now, and started their retreat through the maze-like surroundings of their secret garden. It wasn’t that much after that they emerged from the sides of a beautiful looking tree, Daichi quickly spotting them.

“Your highness! There you are!” Daichi trotted to their side bowing his head as soon as he reached them. “Your Highness, your presence is requested by the council. Our esteemed guests from Shiratorizawa had already arrived and the crown prince asked for you specifically to act as their guide, showing them the palace and their quarters.” Daichi’s voice and eyes had a tone of pity while finishing his statement. As if letting Oikawa know that it wasn’t that Kageyama had _wanted_ for Oikawa to take his place because it was what a ruler had to do, but more like his little brother just didn’t want to do it and _knew_ Oikawa hated the whole idea even more.

“That little….” Oikawa cursed as his eyebrows twitched in frustration. He returned to his usual smiley self before putting his arms on his hips. “Well, there’s no point in complaining now. Let’s get going.”

And with a curtsy made by Daichi as soon as Oikawa started to lead the way, the three of them got away from the gardens and into the palace, unaware of a pair of eyes and ears that had been witness to their previous -supposedly private- venting session.

\----

His heart was pounding hard against his ribcage while his lungs burned from the inside. Hinata had been running for the last 20 minutes without direction or respite, trying to shake his pursuers. The only thing in his mind was how to keep moving one foot in front of the other in the farthest possible direction from where his sister had ran off to. His speed and stamina had been proven helpful so far, but the three men were not easy to lose and the little distance he had managed to gain from them was tempting him to find somewhere to hide before he wouldn’t be able to run anymore. If he was tired, the other three men had to be as well, he thought, but he didn’t take into consideration that those three trained Alphas, who hunted Omegas for a living, were well fed, equipped and used to long run chases.

He needed a diversion, a way to make them lose sight of him so he could find a place to hide. He noticed how he was getting dangerously closer and closer to a rocky elevated wall with a ledge high enough that just a jump wouldn’t be able to lift him to its edge.

“We have him now guys!”

_As if!_ His mind roared.

Hinata started to run even faster and with the gained momentum, he jumped towards an prominent rock and pushed himself with a kick in the direction of the ledge’s edge, grabbing the ground, roots and grass for dear life, he managed to lift himself towards the top ground, leaving the three men hooting below.

“Woah! He is a monkey! A little monkey man!” One of them whistled in appraisal before running back in an attempt to copy the shorter man’s actions. They may haven’t been able to jump as high as the Omega, but they had longer legs; for them it would be difficult, but not an impossible task.

Once up and without a second to lose, Hinata sprinted once more, leaving the men still trying to push themselves up. He dashed through the forest and skidded around a tree, tossing himself into a shrubbery big enough to hide his body completely. He brought his hands up to his mouth and clamped them tightly against it, trying to mute any panting noises that might be escaping in his frantic attempt to regain his breath. He just hoped that his heartbeat wasn’t as loud as he heard it banging against his chest.

He wouldn’t have to wait long to hear the quick footing coming towards his hiding spot. As expected, the Alphas were tired, but not even near as much as Hinata had hoped. He saw them coming from around the same tree he had turned and froze when the three of them came to a stop, just meters from where he was hiding. The Alphas were panting and only one doubled over to rest his hands on his knees in order to catch up his breath. Now that Hinata had the time to take in the nature of his pursuers, he noticed that they shouldn’t be much older than him, maybe a couple of years at best.

_There goes the stamina battle_. He cursed in his mind.

He needed a way out. He would wait for them to continue their assault and run in the opposite direction the moment the danger was over.

“Shit… Did any of you see where he went?” Hinata recognized the voice. He was the one that had called him monkey. _And little_. He was a tall young man with blonde undercut spiky hair. He was using the back of his hand to clean the sweat out of his chin, his almond eyes scanning the area trying to find any signs of a trail or marks that indicated the ginger’s escape route.

The other two youngsters shook their heads as a form of reply. The guy who had doubled over was now straightening his back breathing deeply. The other followed the apparent leader’s motions and started to carefully look at the forest for any telltale sign of their prey.

“Okay, spread out. I can’t seem to smell anything; he is probably using a scent blocker, so look for footprints and be on the lookout for any noise. He can’t be that far.”

“Yes sir!” Both men play-saluted the blonde and started to walk in different directions.

“Come out, come out little monkey man.” The blond man called while clapping his hands in a fond kind of gesture. “You don’t want to make it harder on yourself. Do you?” His voice trailed off as he started to walk away from Hinata’s hiding place.

Hinata just stayed there in complete and utter silence, shaking from the adrenaline and the sheer panic that was keeping his brain running at full speed. He jumped at every noise, tightening the grip on his mouth as to kill any unconscious gasp that could escape on his high alert state that just made him _feel_ their presence looming everywhere.

_Just be patient, they can’t smell you; you are safe as long as you don’t move._ He kept on looping in his head, convincing himself in an attempt to calm down his nerves.

After what seemed like an eternity later, the forest became deadly quiet and Hinata slowly remove his hands from his mouth, not daring to even breathe until he could be _sure_ that they were gone. He closed his eyes and slowly hanged his head back trying to even his breath and calm his senses.

_One deep breath in, one deep breath out_.

He brought his head back and slowly opened his eyes again meeting almond colored ones looking straight back at him from the other side of the shrubbery.

“Found you.” The blond cooed with a lopsided grin and a honeyed terrifying voice that made Hinata’s blood chill.

All his muscles jumped back as his instincts threw his body away from the Alpha’s attempted snatch, only to hit his back against a pair of solid legs. He looked up with wide eyes filled with panic to meet the face of the dark eyed Lodger who was holding a long rope and a knowing smile. _Game Over_.

The next moments were pretty blurry for Hinata. In a split second decision, he grabbed a rock with his right hand and smashed it against the legs of the man with the rope; he threw himself out of the way and started running once more, leaving the yelling man rolling on the ground clutching his shin and shouting for his companions. He was making some distance when arms were thrown around his middle section and his face crashed against the muddy forest floor. He started to trash about in an attempt to roll over, but the man on his back just kept on embracing him effectively pinning him down, apparently waiting for his partner’s help in securing him.

Hinata looked over his shoulder and saw in terror the slow advance of the blonde man who had taken the rope from the Lodger who still hugged his apparently bleeding leg. He flailed in an even more desperate way, using all his mobility to smash the back of his head against the face of his captor, resulting in a roar and a very violent hand that shoved the ginger’s head towards the ground and kept it there while the rest of Hinata’s body fought fiercely for his freedom.

“Damn. You. Brat” The Lodger struggled to spat his words. “Fucking hold still!!” He looked over his shoulder towards the blond with fury in his eyes. “Terushima! Get the fuck here and help me rope this one up. My nose is bleeding!!”

The blond guy, Terushima apparently, jogged his way to the struggling pair and started to bind the Omega’s feet. At the feeling of the rope making contact with his skin, Hinata screamed and shook violently only to be restrained with even more force by the man sitting on top of him.

“Let me go!!” Hinata bawled and screeched completely ignored by the two men who were working with quick and precise movements to secure limbs and restrain any possible movements that would make their prey escape. “Didn’t you hear me?! Let mmmph-“ He was forcefully interrupted when a piece of cloth was pulled around his mouth and tied at the back of his head as a very effective gag.

Once the bondage was done, effectively reducing the ginger’s movements to a minimum, the man that had been holding him down stood up to take care of his nose, while Terushima kneeled down to stare at Hinata’s face. He stretched one hand to grab the small man’s chin, forcing him to look back at him.

“Well, well, well. Aren’t you a cutie?” His smile curved up, showing a toothy grin and something sinister in his eyes. Hinata just held the other man’s gaze furiously back. “Such a rare hair color and intense eyes. One would think that you really hated me right now with how much your eyes are glaring. “ He chuckled, making Hinata to narrow his eyes further in such a menacing way that if looks could kill, the blond would be lying lifeless in the ground. “Ouch.” He teased as a comeback.

“Stop messing with him Terushima and go help Futamata. I’ll pick up the goods.” The man had put a cloth on his nose and had now stopped the bleeding. He spit blood on the soil before kneeling on the ground to pick Hinata up. “Cocky bastard. If you don’t end up selling good, I’ll personally find you an Alpha to teach you a thing or two.” He threw the Omega over his shoulders and made his way to his partners, the precious cargo kept on wriggling until a firm arm squeezed him hard enough for Hinata to let a muffled groan. “Either you keep still or I promise that I’ll make you regret that funny number on my nose.” He relaxed his arm a bit before exerting even more pressure on the bundled boy, receiving a muted whine as reply. “We can still sell you even with a broken bone.” He threatened.

The coldness of the statement froze Hinata’s body and couldn’t find it in himself to struggle anymore. His mind and limbs went numb, almost as a defense mechanism, making the trek back to the Lodger’s camp to go by in a haze of bushes, trees, grumbles and friendly chatter between the three Alphas.

“I’m thinking of a high price for this one.” The blond remarked cheerfully. “He is quick and resourceful, I bet he would be a nice challenge for a smug Alpha.” Terushima was all grins and glee. “I’m also reaaally hoping for it so I can take your part, Bobata.” He turned to face the man holding Hinata with one of his signature teasing smiles.

“What?! Why??”

“Our bet, don’t you remember?”

“That’s right Bobata.” The third man chimed in. His leg had been wrapped and despite his occasional limping, his mood apparently hadn’t been soured at all. “You did offer your share if Terushima was right about the Omega.”

“Well….” Bobata rebutted. “That was before knowing that he was a nice catch!” Both friends rolled their eyes at the statement. “I mean; come on! I got my face beaten by him! The least you can do is paying me what is just!” He was pouting and gesturing to his nose as to prove a point.

“I’m pretty sure we may be able to sell him to the Royal grounds, with the crown prince participating and all.” Terushima pointed out while ogling the limp Omega.

“You think so? He is no noble though.” Futamata furrowed his eyebrows.

“Well, the participation of the future king is not something you celebrate every year, they sent invitations to Nohebi and Inarizaki as well. I’m pretty sure that they’ll be in the need of all the Omegas they can get their hands on.” Bobata said while shaking the shoulder that held Hinata as to get the idea across.

“Not only that, but with more and more nobles migrating, there has been less of a… _restriction_ of what type of Omegas participate in the Royal Ground’s hunt.” Terushima crossed his arms on his chest in a knowing gesture. “Furthermore, for the past 2 years our top customer has been the palace.” He turned his head to face his partners while smiling.

“Whoa! So knowledgeable Yuji!” Futamata praised making the blond to smile wider and blush a little.

“If I ever want to go up the ladder I need to know this stuff. I may be the leader of this group, but I plan on taking the Lodge after old man Takaaki retires.” He threw his arms behind his head leisurely as they continued their advance.

The three men continued their advance while laughter and easy camaraderie accompanied the rest of the trail to the Lodger’s camp. Out of the forest, at the side of the main road that took them to the kingdom’s capital, they had mounted their settlement. It was the meeting place for the Lodgers to gather their merchandise and take it back to different towns where their selling points were located.

Due to the increased number of customers around the weeks prior to the festival, the camp had became a strategic place that helped them gather the Omegas and redistribute them safely and efficiently around the kingdom, using teams that specialized in tracking and another that took the captives to the different cities and different selling warehouses, minimizing the time they could be wasting in going back and forth whenever they got new goods.

“Oi! Terushima! What have you got there?” One of the Lodgers loitering the camp trotted their way as he got sight of the trio approaching.

“Ha! Check this out Izaka! We got a monkey man!” Terushima gestured towards Bobata.

“A what?” The man blinked in confusion.

“What Terushima means, is that we captured an interesting one. He is fast, athletic and isn’t hard on the eyes.” Bobata complimented while shoving Hinata off his shoulder and started to place him on the ground to await instructions.

Izaka looked at both Bobata’s face and Futamata’s knees and smirked.

“And what happened to you? Got beaten by an Omega?” His teasing tone made both men to blush and huff in rebuttal.

Immediately as he felt the ground on his feet, Hinata’s resolve sparked back to life, throwing himself against his captors in a lame attempt to break free, receiving a shove to the ground and a stomping on his back to hold him in place. He made a grunting sound as the air escaped his lungs.

“What can I say, he is quite the interesting game.” Terushima grinned widely as he leaned on the foot that kept on pinning the struggling Omega. Izaka only stood there in astonishment. He shouldn’t underestimate the boy, he noted.

At their little skirmish, a few men started to circle them and an older man appeared from within alerted by the commotion. He was a tall man with narrow eyes, neat black hair and wore a pair of thin-framed glasses, the leader of the Lodgers Anabara Takaaki.

“What have you brought us Terushima?”

“I’m pretty sure that this one could be sold to the Royals. He may not be nobility, but he is fun.”

The older man got closer to inspect the prisoner. Hinata could feel the humiliation itching and boiling within his body. Unable to break free, he could only stay there holding the old man’s stare. He felt as a piece of meat in front of the butcher, waiting for the knife; a scrutinizing gaze analyzing his worth. He hated it. But what he hated the most was the stupid need of appraisal that his inner Omega had decided to plaster against his consciousness. He didn’t need nor wanted the value that those Alphas thought he may or may not possess.

“Excellent job captain.” Takaaki smiled fondly at the blonde. “I think you are right. Put him on the third cart, the group headed for the capital should be departing soon.” He pointed towards the cage like carts that already held a considerable number of people inside. “We have a nice harvest for this year’s festival, I bet the palace will be happy.”

And with that, Hinata was picked with a grunt from the ground, tossed over Izaka’s shoulder and promptly taken to the locked cages. Having learned not to be surprised by the orange haired boy, he quickly opened the enclosure, threw the Omega inside and closed it as fast as he could. He wasn’t taking any chances.

Hinata came crashing against a shaking boy with dark hair, wide eyes and freckles adorning his face. As him, the boy was tied and gagged, his cheeks decorated with two thick trails of shed tears and the panic reflected in his eyes broke Hinata’s heart. He turned to the other side and met the panicked eyes of a blond girl; her hair was covered in leaves and twigs and in the desperate need of a comb. The pleading look on her eyes made him think of Natsu, how scared she had been, how this could have been her fate if he hadn’t jumped in back in the forest.

With a tight chest, the orange haired boy took a glimpse at the rest of his cell companions. They all were in similar conditions; bounded, gagged and terrified, but he didn’t see any familiar faces. He followed suit to the other cages, desperate looking for signs of that familiar orange hair, only breathing once he couldn’t find any.

_Natsu and the others are okay._ He thought, and a feeling of relief washed him over hard enough to ground him and to turn to catch the looks of his cellmates. They were shivering, fear, hunger and desperation coming from their faces, their postures and their scents. They were somebody else’s family, mothers and brothers could be crying their disappearance, but maybe he could help them find solace within a stranger.

With some difficulty he managed to sit in a more comfortable position and got closer to the young girl. In a silent attempt at communication, he managed to convince her to rest her head on his shoulder as he used his own head to softly caress the top of her blond hair, making her to stop her sobs and to succumb to Hinata’s embrace.

_Everything will be fine. We’ll get out of this. You are okay._

He repeated the words in his head encouraging the others with sweet eyes and a gagged but bright smile. The prisoners, seeing the soft touches from the newcomer, came closer to absorb a bit of the soothing radiance and soft calming scents emanating from the small Omega. And just like that, in the form of a questionable comforting pile with soothing scents as blankets, the cart started to rattle as it got pulled forwards, towards the first step on the unknown journey of the occupants of the clattering cage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, there will be a lot of characters that will appear throughout the fic but I won’t tag them, as they won’t necessarily appear in more than one chapter. 
> 
> Also, I’m sorry if I made Terushima and the Johzenji team as bad guys, I love them, but I needed a team with enough energy and charisma to pull this out… so yeah. Hahahaha, I hate to make out OCs just to fill characters, I think its more fun to look for who could fill them.


	3. Rumors and Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don’t know what it's happening to me. All the events from this chapter were supposed to be included in the previous chapter, but the ideas kept on coming and before I realized it… I was at 8000 words and I STILL couldn’t include ALL the ideas from my notes for this chapter … I hope they make sense when I add them in the next one. 
> 
> Thank you so, so, so much for the support, the comments, the kudos and the hits. It means the world to me. Especially to CShirSalad, who has been the most amazing person in the world by helping me so, so much with vocabulary and grammar. You are THE BEST! Thank you for helping me get better. 
> 
> Hope that you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> \---  
> Edit:  
> I'm not sure how the notification system works here, but I edited a couple of commas and rephrased some lines, but nothing major. Just in case you get a warning. I'm sorry! I noticed them and they bugged me too much to let them be!

Hinata opened his eyes at the sound of unfamiliar voices. Apparently he had dozed off at some point during their journey. His body hurt from the stiff position he had maintained during their travel, but it was worth it when he remembered the soft and calmed slumber he managed to get out from his caged companions. Trying not to stir up the sleeping girl resting on his shoulder, he turned his head towards the source of what appeared to be a negotiation of some sort.

“Come on! I can handle at least four, I’m the best at my job after all.” The woman’s voice was loud and confident. She grinned brightly as she threw her short blond hair backwards with her right hand and winked towards the man.

“I’m not doubting your skills Saeko-san, I’m just following the old man’s orders, that’s all.” The man in charge of the transportation shrugged after the statement. “If it were for me I would drop all of them here and took the rest of the day off, but unfortunately, I’m not the one calling the shots.” He rolled his head against his shoulders making them crack in relief while his hands still held the reins of the unmoving horse pulling the cart.

The woman visibly pouted and looked up to the man in a playful way. The man sighed loudly in defeat.

“Okay, you win, I’ll leave the young girl as well. That’s it.” The Lodger gave a roll of his eyes at the woman who was beaming and making her way towards the back of the cart. “Hold up! I’ve been told one of them is feisty, so let me help you in getting them out.” The man warned while hopping off the rider’s seat and making his way towards the woman’s side.

Hinata was caught off guard when the woman’s bright eyes and smile locked with his obvious staring. He tried not to blush as a reaction.

“Aren’t you something special?” The woman cooed when she noticed his embarrassment.

“Believe me, he is.” The man narrowed his eyes as he noticed who Saeko was referring to. “He did a number on Terushima’s squad.” The man snickered as he got working on the cage’s lock.

“Did he now? But he looks so cute and harmless.” She got closer to Hinata’s face as if she were sizing him.

The mention of his previous actions brought Hinata back to the reality of their current situation. He looked around for allies but got discouraged quickly when the only reply he got were pairs of frightened eyes. Before he could get thinking on a plan B though, the man had entered the cage and grabbed the small girl’s arm forcing her up. Stirred by the girl’s muffled whimpers, Hinata jumped at him but a hand from outside the cage had grabbed his already tied legs stopping his assault with a thumping sound when he lost his balance and hit his chest against the floor of the cage.

“Woah there little man! We don’t want you making a scene and getting hurt now, do we?” Saeko held the Omega’s leg with enough force to keep him restrained while the man got out of the cage and made his way towards the house at their side. “You weren’t kidding Numajiri! I like his fighting spirit though!” She was beaming.

The young man laughed at the remark. “Only you Saeko!” He said as he got into the sale house with the young girl over his shoulder. The man reappeared after a minute, getting into the cage once more to take the freckled boy out and into the building as well.

“And now the gutsy one. Don’t let him bite you Saeko.” Numajiri teased warningly, but the woman smiled letting go of Hinata’s leg as the man chuckled at his own joke, shoving the Omega over his shoulder. He closed the cage after stepping out and followed by the woman, they stepped into the sale house.

It was a nice looking place. Some fair decorations made it look like a fancy store, a space where nobles and wealthy families would come to shop for Omegas. At the end of the room, a regal wooden counter separated the access to the only other room in the shop; where all the goods were prepared for selling. They made their way through the lifting lid on the desk towards the back room.

Hinata’s eyes widened at the view. A huge room with rows of individual enclosures accommodated with a bed, plants and a running river-like canal that supplied them with fresh water. There was already an open cage awaiting his arrival with a few occupants by the pens on its sides. Besides the blond girl and the freckled boy, there was an older boy in the coop right in front of the open cage. He was resting in the bed giving them his back. Hinata was tossed without much consideration onto the unfurled bed and his cage was locked.

“Now, be good boys and girls while I get everything ready for you, will you?” Saeko smiled and waited for the Lodger to exit the room before closing the door, leaving the occupants of the cages in a silence only broken by the muffled sobbings of the blond girl.

\-----

“So?”

“So what?”

“How did the conversation go?”

Oikawa’s eyebrow twitched.

“That bad, huh?”

“At least this time I managed to last two whole minutes without insulting him” He replied with a tensed up smile and nothing more for a comeback.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa walked through the marbled halls towards the dining room, one stack of papers under the brunette’s arm with a detailed checklist and schedule of the upcoming preparations for tomorrow's ceremony. With no initiative from the future ruler to oversee the arrangements, Oikawa had been tasked -ordered- with their supervision instead. They were really running behind.

They got to the main hall where a banquet was on display for the members from the courts of Shiratorizawa, Nohebi and Inarizaki, comprising their corresponding Alphan princes and their retainers. With the most sincere attempt at a smile, Oikawa made his way towards the table where his brother already sat at. He waited for Kageyama to look up at him and muttered a morning greeting, receiving a huffed mumble as reply.

He couldn’t control how his lip started to twitch.

“Tobio-chan.” Oikawa started with his saccharine tone. “We should really be checking the preparations for tomorrow, don’t you think?”

“I thought you were taking care of that. That’s why I sent the paperwork to you.” Kageyama replied flatly.

“Yes, I _am_ taking care of it. As you so _merrily_ decided when you dumped all of _your_ responsibilities onto me.” Oikawa's strained smile and bitter tone letting be known with every remark. “But there is one matter that requires your presence and I’m planning to take care of it as soon as possible, so I can leave _you_ to entertain our lovely guests.” His voice turned on full teasing mode, the smile only accentuating his intentions.

Kageyama frowned at that. Being in charge of social interactions was definitely something he didn’t excelled at. Scratch that. He sucked at it. He was now regretting the stunt he had pulled on Oikawa. Maybe if he had taken charge of the preparations, Oikawa would have been the one to spend time with the other Alphas, leaving him in the comfort of his own chambers.

“And what if I don’t want to enter-“

“Don’t you dare you littl-“

“Oikawa!” Iwaizumi warned, effectively stopping Oikawa’s outburst. He then turned to face Kageyama. “Your highness, even though we would really love to spend the evening entertaining the guests, it would be wise for you to use this opportunity to mingle and create relationships to strengthen the kingdom.” He paused. “You never know when you would need them.” He added solemnly.

Kageyama pondered at that. Since they were little, Iwaizumi had been someone he looked up to, for him, Iwaizumi had become a role model of what a perfect Alpha should be.

“I see. I shall do that then. Thank you Iwaizumi-san” Kageyama bowed his head a little.

“Please, drop the honorifics, your highness. You are the crown prince after all.” The knight replied.

“Well… As I was saying, little brother.” Oikawa butted in, focusing on the little part. “Seeing as how the festival is in two days from now, we should _really_ make haste and go shopping as soon as possible.”

“Shopping?” Kageyama tilted his head at that.

“The Omegas Tobio.” Oikawa answered with a tone that stated that it should have been obvious. “We will need at least one per participant. I really hope we can make due, being so close to the festival and all. We wouldn’t want to disrespect our guests and have them share their game, would we?” Oikawa fought hard to keep his tone as neutral as possible. He didn’t want to give in his own opinions on the matter; his façade couldn’t drop, _especially_ not in front of the other countries’ Alphas.

“Don’t they volunteer for the game?” Kageyama had his eyes furrowed in confusion.

Oikawa laughed loudly at the joke, then stopped when he received a jab on the ribs from Iwaizumi. _Oh._ Kageyama was being serious.

“No Tobio, they don’t.” Oikawa deadpanned. “It has been since a long time ago that the people _wanting_ to participate have been so few, that we have had to buy the extra help.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” Kageyama considered. “But who wouldn’t want to participate in the festival? I feel that it’s some kind of reward for them to participate in the Royal Hunt. Especially those traitors that try to flee the country.” He closed his eyes as in deep thought. “They should all be grateful with the possibility of bonding with a noble Alpha, it’s kind of a bad match for _us_ , if you think about it.” He paused to take a bite out of his breakfast. “Oh well, if it’s what it takes to keep on with the traditions, I guess one has to be willing to make sacrifices.” He continued with a shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head.

Oikawa had to control really hard the trembling of his fists to the point that Iwaizumi had to put his hand on his thigh in an attempt to help him recover his composure. It wasn’t Kageyama’s fault per se. He, as many other noble Alphas, had been educated under the impression that Omegas were inferior, that they would never be able to stand on equal grounds. That it was the role of the Alpha to guide and control their Omegas, as any of their actions and behaviors would reflect on the competence of their Alpha. 

“That’s one way to see it, I guess.” Oikawa spoke through gritted teeth. The prospect of having a heart to heart conversation with Kageyama later in the evening becoming slimmer and slimmer. “Anyways...” He continued as his signature smile came back just in time as Kageyama turned his attention to him. “We will leave shortly after breakfast with Lord Tsukishima. He will be in charge of the Omega trades starting from now on.” It was Oikawa’s turn to deliver a blow of annoyance towards his brother. “Aren’t you close friends?” His eyes narrowed and his lips curved all the way up in a smile.

Kageyama just clicked his tongue in annoyance as a form of reply. Oikawa genuinely smiled for once.

“Well, that would be all then.” Oikawa clapped his hands and grabbed the stack of papers making the gesture of standing up, when a group of men sat down at their side.

“Oh? Are you leaving, your highness?” A blond man with hooded eyes and charming smile asked at Oikawa’s puzzled look. “Aren’t we worth the company?” The blond added as he sat at his side with a pleasant smile.

“Miya-san.” Oikawa acknowledged. If he remembered correctly, the blond was one of the twin princes of Inarizaki, though he couldn’t remember which one, so just for safety, he went with the prince’s last name only.

“Atsumu, please.” The blond Alpha smiled flirtatiously . “Miya-san is my father.” 

“Atsumu- _san._ ” Oikawa ennunciated. “It’s not that I mind the company, but more like I have too much on my plate right now to actually enjoy it.” His fake smile was back on as he addressed the gathered males. He turned to Kageyama once more. “You can thank little Tobio-Chan here for keeping all of you from my wonderful company.”

“Thank you, your highness.” A tall broad man with olive eyes and equally colored hair bowed towards Kageyama, making Oikawa’s eyebrow twitch for the nth time that morning.

“I think he meant it as a joke Ushijima.” Atsumu chuckled while pointing with his fork to the offended Omega. “I’m sorry my prince, he can be quite the stick in the mud.” He redirected his lidded eyes at Oikawa who just stood there in annoyance. “But seriously though, stay. It’s really uncommon to be in the presence of a high born Omega.” His charming smile curving up to show his canines.

The whole room froze, all eyes painfully locked on Oikawa who remained unfazed, if the comment had stirred something within him, he didn’t show it. He hadn’t strained himself by wearing a mask his whole life just to crumble at the first attempt of someone peeling it off.

“Excuse me?” He asked, genuinely offended.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I just assumed…” Atsumu had his hands in the air while trying to subdue the prince’s rage. “You know.” He strained, shrugging his shoulders. “You seem like... that type.” 

“Type?” Now Oikawa was curious, but he just made it sound like he was angrier.

A carbon copy of Atsumu but with grey hair jabbed an elbow softly at the blonde’s ribs as a very evident sign of precaution.

“You know.” Atsumu kept on digging his own grave. “Cute.”

The reaction was immediate. The Alpha’s twin smacked the head of his brother loudly with a full on fist, receiving a loud yelp and a “Samu!” from the blond. Then, he proceeded to bow still holding Atsumu’s head forcing him to bow as well.

“I’m so sorry about my brother, your highness.” The silver haired Alpha apologized, pushing the blonde’s head downwards with more force than necessary. “He just doesn’t know how to behave in public.”

Oikawa had, as everyone else in the room, visibly flinched at Atsumu’s comment and was now trying to look away to hide the impending blush that just _threatened_ to crawl over his face up to his ears. Once he regained his bearings, he coughed loudly.

“Anyways.” He started, completely ignoring the Inarizaki princes and redirected his gaze at his brother who tried to look really focused on his breakfast. “We are leaving in ten, Tobio. I’ll wait for you in the carriage.”

And with that, he turned on his heels and proceeded to vacate the halls followed real closely by his knight, leaving the room in an awkward silence as they followed the movements of the now retreating prince.

“Are you stupid?!” The silver haired prince shouted as the door closed, smacking once more the head of his twin. “You just flat out insulted the prince of Karasuno, you idiot!”

Atsumu yelped once more and quickly rubbed his hands on his head trying to appease the pain from the hit.

“I’m sorry Samu, I’m sorry! I was just curious.” He covered his head as the brother attempted to hit him one more time. “You know about the rumors!”

“And you thought that the best way to get an answer was asking the source _directly_ ?” This time it was the Nohebian prince talking, his snake like features narrowing at the apparent stupidity of his peers. “If it _were_ to be true, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, in front of a table full of Alphas, now, would he?” He gestured at the rest of the table as to prove a point.

“Well…” Atsumu pondered. “He didn’t deny it either.” 

It was at this moment that Kageyama’s throat decided to choke on nothing, throwing the Alpha into a coughing fit. With the question hanging in the air and a table filled with silence, all eyes fell on him, as if they had just remembered that Kageyama was also in the room. The Alpha, unable to read the atmosphere or the people in front of him just drank his milk quietly, extending the uncomfortable silence.

“Well?” It was the Nohebian prince, the one brave enough to break the tension.

“Well, what?” Kageyama replied in confusion.

“Is he or is he not an Omega?” Atsumu almost shouted at the dumbfounded reply of Kageyama. 

“Oh!” Kageyama replied confused, as if that shouldn’t even have been asked for how obvious it was. Of course Oikawa wasn’t an Omega, he would know. It was his brother after all, they would have discussed this. He would have known about his heats and he didn’t even have a smell. No. Oikawa was just a really capable and talented person who happened to have a weird, never before seen illness that just _happened_ to indispose him every other month and that made it impossible for him to succeed to the throne. That was it. Just a normal... person... who… Wait… He wasn’t an Omega, right? He would know... He _would_ know, right? Oikawa would have told him, they were family. Yeah, sure, their relationship wasn’t the best, and they haven’t _really_ spoken since the announcement of Kageyama’s succession to the throne, but still…

“That’s an awful long time for a yes or no answer.” The viper’s tongue brought Kageyama abruptly out of his inner train of thoughts.

“No.” He replied. “No, Oikawa is not an Omega.” He paused before adding as in contemplation. “He is just a really gifted Beta.”

“That’s right.” 

The whole table turned to look at Ushijima, the ever stoic Alpha uncharacteristically praising someone taking their full attention.

“I have heard first hand of the accomplishment of the Beta. It’s a shame that he wasn’t born an Alpha, he would have made an outstanding ruler.”

Something in that last statement made Kageyama’s inner Alpha to react violently.

“What do you mean?” He asked in genuine confusion, trying to understand why the remark had made him react in such ways.

“A good ruler is one who manages to bring the best out of their country and makes it stronger. With his skills and accomplishments he would have made Karasuno a strong kingdom.”

“You think I won’t?” Kageyama’s low growl made the whole table freeze in tension as the two Alphas stared at each other.

“The only thing that I have heard about you or your skills is as little as the kingdom knows about them. If you can’t serve your people and if your people don't bestow their faith in your abilities, then there is no need for a king like yourself.” The dryness of his statement made it painfully obvious that it wasn’t just Ushijima who was thinking the same about Kageyama’s future kingship. “That’s what I meant.” He finished in the same stoic unapologetic tone he had used to sour the blue eyed prince’s scent.

They held their stares in silence, both Alphas reeking of animosity. The pressure only lifted when a blond man with eyeglasses came peering into the room asking for the crown prince's departure. Kageyama bowed to his guests and left to follow the man, a new type of feeling hurting his insides.

\-----

The carriage had only four people inside but it felt as if it were filled to the rim with how much pressure had built up thanks to his occupants. The two princes hadn’t said a word since they had stepped inside and taken their seats on the red velvet cushions, and if the remaining two occupants hadn’t been Iwaizumi Hajime, the prince’s silent knight nor Tsukishima Kei, the disinterested blond bespectacled Alpha, someone would have already tried to break the lingering silence. But, as those weren’t their circumstances, they had to travel all the way to the Lodger’s warehouse in a very much quiet and uncomfortable silence.

Not soon enough, the carriage came to a stop and Iwaizumi opened the door for them to get off. Oikawa left promptly but Kageyama remained seated in stifled contemplation.

“Geez, _king_. What happened to you to be reeking like that?” Tsukishima remarked as he shook his hand in front of his face to disperse the heavy scented smell coming from the Alpha.

The prince flinched at the comment, making his whole body go even tenser before forcing it to relax. With a pouting scowl he turned to face the blond, but his eyes were unable to make contact with the other Alpha.

“Do… do you think I’m goingtobeagoodking.” The prince mumbled in an almost unperceivable tone while a very evident flush adorned his face.

“Huh?!” The blond roared in surprise, his face in evident contort; a combination of not _actually_ expecting a real answer and the thoughts of having misheard the royal.

“I asked you if you think I would be a good king.” Kageyama was serious now. Looking at the High Lord before turning his eyes away. “You know… Like how Oikawa would be if he were to ascend.” He lowered his voice as he finished the last part.

Tsukishima sighed, recovering from the initial shock. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes thinking really carefully about his answer. The crown prince had asked him a sincere question, and despite the friendly hatred relationship between the two, he didn’t want to cause any more dejection to the prince. 

“Honestly? I think you are too selfish and don’t care about your commoners at all. You think of yourself as too good for even taking the time to consider their needs or their expectations about you.” Tsukishima bluntly answered, making Kageyama twitch at every statement. “That being said.” He opened his eyes and stared down at him. “I think you could _become_ a great one. Isn't the fact that you are asking this, enough evidence that you _want_ to become a worthy king?” He lifted both arms and shrugged. “Maybe instead of sulking about how much different you are from Oikawa, you could ask him pointers on how to become a more suitable leader, don't you think?”

Kageyama followed Tsukishima’s gaze to the street, where the brunette prince was starting to lose his patience and would come back to the carriage to drag the two Alphas out any minute now. 

“Talk to him, huh?” He paused and kept on staring at his big brother. When had things become so strained between the two of them, that just holding a friendly chatter about their future felt so dreading? “Yes. Yes, I can do that.” The raven haired alpha nodded convincing himself, before adding. “Thanks Tsukishima.” He then raised from his seat to step down off the carriage and towards the waiting group.

Outside of the fancy little store a bald young man was already speaking with Daichi who had been sent to announce the arrival of the waiting group. The bald came trotting to their side before bowing his head out of respect. 

“Welcome your highness and... your highness.” Tsukishima snickered at the attempted greeting, earning a blushing growl from the bald Alpha. “Shut up Tsukishima! What I’m supposed to say? Your hignessessess?” 

“Don’t mind, don’t mind.” Oikawa lifted his arms as a way to appease the bald. “It’s fine, don’t stress about it.” He smiled in his signature charming way. “Let’s get in, shall we?”

The Royals stepped in first followed closely by Iwaizumi and Tsukishima, while the bald kept the door open for them. After everyone got inside he closed the door and remained outside accompanied by Daichi as guard, the standard protocol for when the crown came to visit.

“Kei! You are finally here!” The energetic voice of the blond woman boomed as they crossed the door into the lobby.

“Please Saeko-san… Not so loud.” Tsukishima replied in his usual unenergetic voice, clearly being drained by the woman’s enthusiasm.

The group made their way towards the counter, where Saeko was taking out a book of sorts and put it onto the counter next to another one.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She smiled while readjusting her voice to be barely softer this time. “I’m just excited! It’s always an honor to make business with the crown.” She bowed her head as the group got in front of her. “Welcome to the Cabin! House of the finest Omegas in the country! I was told by that handsome guard outside that you are here for the festival’s participants?” 

“You are correct Saeko-san.” Tsukishima replied, bowing his head.

“Excellent! You are just in time! We got an interesting delivery yesterday, you see.” She opened the books in front of her, showing a display of square pieces of cloth with numbers written on them. “They are all Royal quality.” She winked at the group. Tsukishima just rolled his eyes in response.

Kageyama just stood there looking at the weird exchange happening in front of him unsure if he had to say or do anything. When Oikawa’s stare locked onto him though, he understood that he was, indeed, supposed to do _something_.

“Um…” Kageyama mumbled begging for instructions. “Thanks?” Oikawa just hit his face with his palm.

“The catalogue Tobio!” The brunette said pointing at the books. “You must _choose_ which ones you want to buy.”

“Me?!” He backed up. “I thought we just picked everyone up and, you know, hunt them down or whatever during the festival.”

“Tobio… ” Oikawa pinched the bridge of his nose in clear frustration. “Buying Omegas is expensive, even if we are the crown, we can’t go and pick every Omega of this lovely establishment -” he turned to politely smile at Saeko while continuing “- as it would probably empty the treasury”. He picked one of the books and shoved it to Kageyama. “So you, as the king, in his very first Primeveral Festival’s appearance, will choose one Omega to hunt down by yourself and one Omega per participant on the hunt. We have a budget, so choose carefully.”

Kageyama blinked at the book in his hands. He opened it again noticing for the first time that the rectangular pieces of clothing had different scents emanating from them. Omega’s scents. He immediately blushed at the realization. 

He shut the book loudly in embarrassment. The scent of an Omega was something he had always considered as _private_. He felt really intrusive, having in his hands what could be only described as a very intimate aspect of another human being. He shoved the book back to Oikawa. 

“If it’s such a mundane task, why didn’t you just do it by yourself. I don’t see why I have to be the one picking.” He couldn’t hide the color now rising up to his ears as he looked up to the ceiling, incapable of facing anybody at the moment.

Tsukishima snickered and Oikawa arched his eyebrow at the realization of the reason for his brother’s embarrassment.

“Don’t tell me…” He started with his sugary teasing tone. “That you are uncomfortable at the idea of smelling them?” Kageyama only blushed harder, prompting a chuckle out of the Omega. “Well, you’ll have to swallow your shame dear Tobio, because one, I’m a Beta, so I can’t pick up smells like you do and two, you’ll have to chase this person down, so be sure that it is actually a scent that you can smell _and_ enjoy tracking.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows, making the already pink cheeks on Kageyama’s face to become an even darker shade when he felt, once again, the scenting catalog back on his hands.

Oikawa had a point though. When participating in the hunt for the first time, it was expected from Royal members to form a bond out of their hunt. It had been the custom after the “fated” aspect in their culture and the tradition since the first ever forced bond happened so many years back. So, if he would have to bond and keep an Omega around for the rest of his life, it should be someone that he, at least, liked to have their scent around, shouldn’t it? Kageyama certainly hadn’t put enough thought into all the implications that meant his first participation in the Primeveral Festival.

With a very evident groan he opened the book and held it closer to his face, only for an overwhelming wave of different scents to hit him directly at full force. He threw his head back instinctively and pressed his nose with his thumb and index finger.

“Oh ho!” Saeko beamed loudly at the prince’s reaction. “You have a really sensitive nose, don’t you?” She was enjoying the spectacle in front of her. Kageyama turned to scowl at her, making her hold her hands in the air as a sign of apology. “It was just an observation, your highness. Here.” She reached over the counter for the book on Kageyama’s hand and prompted it open on the counter. “If that is the case, too many smells can be overbearing. In cases like yours, I would suggest to smell the samples from afar and see if any page grabs your attention. That way we can reduce the options.” She proceeded to turn the page showing more rectangular cloth pieces, some of them had their numbers with a line scribbled over. “Also, this way you can tell if you are able to discern a specific scent from the bunch, you’ll have to be able to find it in the mix of different ones during the festival, after all.” She turned over another page of the catalogue. “We wouldn’t want for our future king to not have a successful hunt.” She winked.

Kageyama just nodded, still overwhelmed by the information and scent-saturated nostrils. He saw Saeko turn over the last page of the first book and stare at him with a questioning glance.

“Anything that caught your attention?” She asked, smiling.

“No. Not really.” He shrugged. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking for, or if he could even differentiate any particular scent from the overlapping and clashing mix.

“Ok. Don’t worry.” She said as she closed the book and proceeded to bring out the second one. She opened it with a smile and proceeded to slowly turn the pages, waiting for a reaction or a gesture from the blue eyed Alpha.

She kept on turning page after page but all Kageyama could smell was the oversaturated spices and sweet aromas that burned his nostrils. They were getting awfully close to the last page when a very distinct smell hit his nose. His inner Alpha sparked to life at the brief whiff of a very delicious critic and sweet aroma.

“Wait!” The words escaped his throat as by instinct, not even acknowledging them in his brain as the rest of his body reacted the same way, leaning towards the counter and placing a hand on the open book, not wanting the smell to disappear. 

“Oh?” It was Oikawa the one to be surprised, never having seen Kageyama react like that to anything. Not even archery.

“This one?” Saeko asked, holding the book closer to Kageyama.

The Alpha leaned closer to the book trying to pinpoint the source of the smell. He smiled at the little orange square of cotton fabric. _So fitting_. He thought, before realizing he was smiling and quickly turned his frown on. “This one.” He placed his index finger over the clothing. “I’ll take this one.” He repeated with an excited happy tone attached to nervousness. 

“This one, eh?” Saeko turned the book to see whom the scent belonged to, only to smile widely at that. “Are you sure you want this one, your highness?” She had a teasing demeanor and a sideways grin, just taunting the would-be king to ask questions.

“Is there a problem?” Iwaizumi asked, knowing that Kageyama wouldn’t be able to handle a rejection after having been so happy moments before, even if the prince weren’t to admit it out loud.

Saeko shook her head as answer. “Not per se, only that this Omega is trouble, your highness.” She put her elbows over the counter and rested her head on one hand and used the other to point at the selected Omega’s cloth. “I’ve been told that he is quite the challenging game, my prince.”

Kageyama clicked his tongue at that. “He is an Omega, how difficult could it be to chase him down?”

Saeko smiled knowingly. “Well, apparently difficult enough for the three Alphas that captured him trying to escape the country.” She straightened herself before adding. “We wouldn’t want the crown prince to fail his first hunt just because he picked the wrong Omega, now, would we?”

Kageyama growled at the insult and Saeko raised her arms in defense.

“Don’t take it as an insult, my prince. What I’m trying to say is that you should be aware that what you are purchasing is a _challenge_. So you shouldn’t be discouraged or angry if the prey gets to win.” She lowered her hands and spoke in a more serious tone. “There have been records of unworthy nobles that were unable to capture their Omegas, so they took… measures… against them or their families.” In an instant, she had become dead serious, a warning tone accompanying her statement. And as soon as it had flipped, her demeanor changed right back to her smiley self. “I’m just trying to keep my clients happy about their choices, your highness. A happy customer is a returning one.” She winked at them.

Kageyama stopped to consider the words of the saleswoman, Uhijima and Tsukishima’s words still fresh on his mind. What was to be expected of him as the next king? Should he go for an easy and winnable game? That way, the people would know that he was a capable, skillful Alpha. If he were to fail his first hunt… what would the people say? He would be laughed at, that was for certain. Maybe even doubted about his rights to succeed the throne. He frowned at the thought.

“I…” He started and a fresh wave of smell hit him directly to his core. What he was feeling about that piece of clothing was something so ingrained in his DNA that he couldn’t explain it through words nor reason. He wanted it. No. He _needed_ it. “I’ll take it.” He said with the most conviction he had ever felt in his life.

Oikawa huffed at that. 

“For a moment I thought you were going to step down from the challenge, Tobio.” He smiled at him. “It’s good to see you actually wanting something for a change.” It had been a sincere comment, even though Oikawa had tried to cover it as an insult. Iwaizumi smiled though, noting the sincerity behind the words.

Saeko’s smile widened at the prince’s statement. “Okay then, and for the rest of the participants?” She looked up, questioning at Tsukishima.

“Oh, no, I’m not participating.” He shook his hands in front of his body quickly. “I have no interest in such a thing.”

“More like no talent.” Kageyama retorted with a smirk, making the blond to growl at the remark. “He has participated in two hunts so far, and has not been able to capture any.” Kageyama couldn’t help his grin at the blond’s evident annoyance.

“Like I said, I don’t enjoy them, so I don’t participate in them.” Tsukishima took off his glasses and proceeded to carefully clean them. “I just entered the hunt because I was pestered by my brother to do so.” He put his glasses back and faced the saleswoman once more, sharing a brief compliant moment that passed unnoticed by everyone but the perceptive eyes of Oikawa, making the prince’s lips curved upwards. 

“Do the other participants have any preferences then?” Saeko asked towards Oikawa. “Gender, athleticity, scent?” She started to turn over the pages of the already opened books. 

Oikawa grabbed one book and lent the other to Tsukishima. “If I’m not mistaken, only our country encourages the bond between the first hunter and hunted, right? So, as long as we provide game for them, it doesn’t really matter their preferences, as they can let them go after the hunt if they are not satisfied.” Oikawa reasoned while browsing the pages of the book with clear disinterest. “I would just pick those who would fit in our budget, what do you think Tsukishima?” 

He turned to Kageyama first, who nodded and then both princes looked towards Tsukishima for his input, but the blond was in too deep a focus on a page of the book.

“Tsukishima?” Kageyama repeated this time, trying to get the blond’s attention.

It wasn’t until the raven haired prince put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder that the bespectacled man jumped out of his skin, an expression on his face that reflected the likes of been caught doing something bad. He closed the book in a flash and tried to recover from his previous reaction.

“Oh. Yes, yes, that… that would be appropriate. Yes.” He fixed his glasses trying to unsuccessfully swallow down his embarrassment.

Oikawa smiled knowingly. He looked at the saleswoman who returned his mischievous smile.

“Found something interesting in there, Kei?” Saeko teased with a grin that was far too wide for Tsukishima’s sake.

“What? No! Nothing!” Like a kid being caught in a lie, he shoved the book behind his back. Oikawa chuckled at the reaction.

“Nothing huh? Okay then.” The brunette smiled and turned towards the door. “Saeko-chan!” He singsonged in his characteristic sweet voice. “Be a dear and arrange all the pending details with Lord Tsukishima here. We are in need of 5 more Omegas for tomorrow, besides dear Tobio-chan’s one, of course.” He winked at her and she giggled back. He clapped his hands and turned to the remainder of the group. “I think we are done for now, let’s get back to the palace. I have so much pending work to do.” He rolled his eyes and whined playfully as he herded the rest of the group outside with broad hand gestures.

“5?” Kageyama asked while being pushed out of the store. “Aren’t only 4-” He received a hard shove on his back from Oikawa that made him almost trample his feet, forcing him to immediately shut up looking for balance on the stone pavement outside.

“Oh, Saeko-san!” Oikawa stopped at the door’s entrance saying in a lower, more serious tone, turning towards her with a very confident smile. “The crown _very_ much approves of it.” And with that, he left the room to follow the rest of the group.

The two occupants of the room remained in silence, completely taken aback from what had just happened. Tsukishima still had the book on his hand and Saeko side-glanced at him with her devilish smile.

“So…” She leaned towards Tsukishima with wiggling eyebrows and a mocking tone. “What was that about?”

“Don’t start.” He said placing the book on the table. “More importantly. What were all those warnings to the crown prince?” He was now staring seriously at her. “It's like you _wanted_ for them to pick stuff up.” He reprimanded in a hushed tone.

“I said what had to be said. It’s not a lie, after all.” She crossed her arms defiantly. “Besides, if I want for the Omegas a fair chance at the hunt, I have to make sure that the other party will make it fair. You can’t be an Omega’s rights advocate by being timid-” 

“Saeko-san!” Tsukishima hushed loudly trying to make her to shut up, looking in every direction with a panicked expression.

“Relaaaax!” The woman laughed loudly, extending the vowels as she waved her hand in front of him. “Today is just my little bro and me, we are safe.” She said. “Besides… I’m pretty sure that prince Oikawa knows already.” She became serious.

“What!?” His voice rose in tone at the surprise. “What makes you say that?” 

“A hunch.” She replied. “I may be wrong, but I think he is playing a part on it as well.” She shrugged. “There have been rumors about a generous patron in the shelters, and my gut is telling me that it may be him.” She paused, unsure of how to continue. “You hear all types of rumors in this profession, you know? For example, how he may be a royal Omega in hiding and how he conducts an elite group of soldiers that try to bring an end to those who abuse and mistreat their mates. It’s all baseless gossip, but it makes you wonder.” She said opening the catalogue in front of her and turning the pages slowly. “What kind of future would all these people have if there was a caring leader looking out for them…”

Tsukishima remained silent, staring at the saleswoman’s sad smile. It was off putting how much she cared about the Omegas. He wondered if that was why his brother loved her so much. 

She and Akiteru had come to know each other as the result of the hunt. Tsukishima would always deny that they had been fated because of that, even though their traditions and culture told it to be so. But be it by destiny or by chance, the fact that both of them loved and respected each other the way they did, was proof enough for Tsukishima that a bonding between Alphas and Omegas could result in something precious, instead of what had been established as the norm by years of Omega mistreatment. 

Maybe it had been because he was an idealist. After seeing how much his brother had suffered in the past for being an Omega, he, as the Alpha, had made it his role to protect those who didn’t have anybody else. Maybe, he just felt somewhat responsible for being part of the problem. Or perhaps, it was because he was just an insecure young man that thought that if he didn’t do _something_ , he would never be able to see himself as worthy of anything. But, being the reason that it may have been, the fact was that he had joined Saeko and Akiteru’s little crusade in an attempt, be it small as it was, to give an opportunity to Omegas to fight for their freedom.

Saeko had been using her charms, talents and the Tsukishima’s influence to gain enough renown to earn herself the job in one of the main and most influential Omega’s warehouses of the capital. She worked really hard to free as many Omegas as she could without raising suspicion, moving numbers and names around to make ends and sometimes even buying the Omegas herself under different aliases. 

For those who couldn’t be freed, her information network made it possible to track the families of the ones who had been sold and make sure that their monetary compensation was delivered to the rightful parties instead of kidnappers or ill intentioned relatives.

Akiteru, on the other hand, worked on the sidelines. Being a bonded Omega, he could move the freed ones through different shelters and cities without lifting suspicions or attention. Gaining allies and supporters through their family’s connections and power.

Tsukishima Kei had made it his job to earn enough trust in the palace to be the one responsible for handling the buying of the Omegas for the festival. That way, with the country’s largest monetary vault and the easiest excuse for any complication at their disposal, - _the palace demanded it-_ , they would be able to conceal any suspicious lead trailing back to them.

“There is this girl that arrived yesterday. She is so tiny Kei. So precious and gentle...” Saeko said bringing Tsukishima back from his wondering. She was tapping her finger on what he assumed was the girl’s piece of clothing. “She is _definitely_ not going to make it if she were to participate in the hunt.” She sighed heavy with worry.

“Have you tried to accommodate her?” It was a dumb question, Tsukishima knew it. Of course Saeko had tried to make her slip from the catalogue. An extra gold coin here, a couple extra silver pieces there and voila! The minimum price for the girl should have been reached and she would have been escorted out of the warehouse at night, where shadows were darker and eyes more forgiving.

“Yes, but there is not enough.” She sighed again. “This shipment came way too close to the festival. I already used some of the extra money I got from last year for two other girls. I had no choice though; they were being scouted for creepy old Alphas that needed heirs. They even applied for mating approvals from the crown.” She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

Tsukishima wasn’t paying _that_ much attention if he was being honest. He just couldn’t unglue his sight from the page Saeko had been holding. There it was again, that sweet minty fresh smell that had gotten him so entranced moments before. 

“Maybe I can help with that.” He forced himself to blink, effectively breaking the spell and looked back up towards Saeko. “The prince gave me a budget, but we never discussed the price of the Omega Kageyama wants. Maybe you were just that good of a haggler and I couldn’t get you to lower the price for him.” A shrugged shoulder and a smile crossed his face at the reveal of his plot.

Saeko laughed boisterously smacking Tsukishima’s back loudly. “That’s what I love about you. Always looking for ways out! So smart Kei!” She was grinning widely as she took from a pouch by her side a little black leather notebook and a pencil. She placed them on the counter and started to write down numbers and scribbling names while counting with her fingers.

He smiled at her antics and glanced down to the scented book once more. The rectangular piece of clothing called for him. He picked the book up and noticed for the first time that his much-prized piece of fabric had the usual numbers of its owner strikethrough over. 

“Oi, Saeko-san. I’ve been meaning to ask” He called for her, turning the book for her to see. “What does it mean when they have a line through the numbers?” 

“What?” She looked up from her notes and stared at the book with furrowed brows. “Oh. That.” She took the book and turned it for him to see. “What it means is that the owner of that scent is on hold.”

“On hold?”

“Yeah. When someone is interested in an Omega, besides the crown, obviously, they put up a bid for them, if by the end of the day nobody bids more for it, they gain ownership of the Omega.” She flipped through the pages of the book. “See here?” She pointed to a strikethrough name with a cross by its side. “This little cross means that the Omega is not to be bid on again. Sometimes Lodger’s salesmen will do this shit when the buyers agrees to pay them directly a sum for their “troubles.”” She gestured to the air quotations marks while rolling her eyes in a clear gesture of annoyance. “I hate it. It gives me less freedom to work.” She returned to the page that had the Omega Kei had been asking about. A sudden thought made Saeko’s curiosity spark up. “Why do you ask?” She smirked when she connected the dots. “Is this the scent that got you so out of it before?”

Tsukishima flinched but didn’t acknowledge the teasing.

“And who bid for this one?” He asked instead.

Saeko got her worried face on again. 

“A horrible, horrible man.” She shook her head at that. 

Something inside Tsukishima bit him at the implications of the statement. 

“And how much did he bid for them?” He was trying to sound uninterested, but he was failing miserably.

“Nothing that you can’t outmatch.” Saeko replied with a smile that said more than her words.

“It’s not what you think.” He said defensively, a clear blush on the tip of his ears.

“I’m pretty sure it is, though.” From all the years of knowing his little brother in law, she had never seen Tsukishima’s stare as intense as in those moments. “And even if it’s not… wouldn’t you like to help him out from a terrible future?”

No. At that precise moment, Tsukishima didn’t want to save anyone from anything. No. What his inner thoughts screamed at him, was that he wanted to be alone and all over whoever owned that lustful and luring fresh aroma. The only thing he could come up with though, was a curt nod as an answer to Saeko’s question.

“Want to check the goods in the back then?” Saeko's insinuating tone brought Tsukishima back from his inner Alpha’s possessive thoughts with a heavy blush across his face. She had the most complicit look Tsukishima had ever seen on the woman."It would be a shame to disappoint the prince and not return with lucky number 5 now, wouldn’t it? You _do_ have the approval of the crown after all, Kei.” She winked at him as she lifted the counter's flap to let the Alpha in.

Tsukishima groaned as he crossed the threshold, just begging to be swallowed by the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is for chapter 3! 
> 
> I may take a little more time to write the next one down. I felt like this one just wrote itself. A lot of world building, I know, but Saeko’s role and her alliance with the Tsukishima brothers felt so appealing in my head. I just wanted to give my salty bean pole something more to be remembered by… and maybe an excuse to write a little of TsukiYamma in the next update. Maybe just a little.
> 
> What? The number of chapters keep on growing? Pfttt! It must be your imagination. (I'm tempted to just erase what I think the number will be, and just wing it. The chapters just don't want to comply with what I want them to be.)


	4. The Hunting Grounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was HARD. I couldn't thread the ideas together and I think it turned out to be more of a filler than anything, but I have decided to move on and continue the story. A new chapter is better than no chapter at all, right?
> 
> Thank you again for all the kudos, comments and subscriptions!!! It means the WORLD to me! You can't imagine how giggly I get with each notification. You guys are the best!
> 
> Again, a gigantic thanks to CShirSalad! You are AMAZING!

The journey back to the palace had been surrounded by the same silence from before, but this time the reasons were different. Kageyama kept shifting between an anxious and an excited state, not knowing what to feel in those moments. It was baffling how tingly he felt from his previous interaction with the smelly book. He wondered about the owner of the scent. Would he be tall? Cute? Maybe he had nice soft eyes, a wishful contrast to his ever scowling ones. A thought came up to his mind.

“Um, Oikawa?” He called for his brother’s attention.

The Omegan prince was looking through the window, head placed on his palm as evident deep thoughts were keeping him from engaging in any type of conversation. He turned his face towards Kageyama after being called.

“Yes, Tobio?” He asked in a bored kind of tone.

“Um. Why didn’t we bring the Omegas with us?” Kageyama asked, trying to appear as non interested as he really was. Oikawa chuckled at that. 

“My, my, Tobio-chan. A little anxious, aren’t we?” He was now placing his full attention on his brother whose facial expressions were gold in Oikawa’s eyes. “Your little Omega will be there for the festival, don’t worry. If he were to be placed in the forest or in the palace warehouse two days ahead of time, _believe me_ , you wouldn’t find him by the time the hunt started. It’s not like they are thrilled about the festival like you are.” He smiled mockingly at the remark. “Besides, all hunters will receive the participants' tokens in tomorrow’s ceremony, so knowing how the Omega looks would put you in an advantageous position against your peers, and that would be cheating Tobio.”

Kageyama nodded at the explanation. A hint of admiration and self inadequacy at how much the older brother knew about their traditions and rules, even not having participated in them at all. He remembered his conversation with Tsukishima. Maybe this was as best a moment as any.

“Um, Oikawa.” He tried again.

“Yes, Tobio?” Oikawa was now curious. This had to be the longest conversation they had ever held with the Alpha in a submissive and engaging attitude. He straightened himself on the velvet couch.

“I was wondering if we could...um... talk?” Kageyama was trying his hardest to swallow his pride and embarrassment. 

“Talk? Talk about what?” Oikawa arched his eyebrow.

“Um… What if… uh… what if you had a friend. And that friend is supposed to ...um... be _something_ , but everyone else doubts that he will ever be-”

“Tobio.” Oikawa harshly interrupted him with his hands. “If you are going to talk to me about something, cut the what ifs and ask me what it is on your mind.”

Kageyama looked down shyly. The carriage was crossing the gates of the palace. He had made it this far, it was now or never.

“Teach me how to be a good leader.” Kageyama bowed his head in a swift motion, trying his best to imbue the gesture with all the passion and fear he was feeling at the possible rejection.

Oikawa flinched at the gesture. Iwaizumi looked at both of them wide eyed with a puzzled look on his face. Kageyama, for the first time ever, was showing signs of _wanting_ to become a king. Iwaizumi glanced at Oikawa, trying to figure out what was going through the Omega’s head.

“What?!” Was all that the brunette could reply. “No way! Nu-uh. I don’t have time for this! I have so much more important stuff to do than wasting my time in someo-”

“Please!” Kageyama interrupted, a hint of desperation making his tone a bit higher. “Please Oikawa-san. I want to become a worthy king.” He kept his head and gaze on the floor. “Like the one you would have been.”

The carriage stopped at the palace entrance and the door was opened by Daichi, but the three occupants of the vehicle remained unmoving. 

Iwaizumi leaned to grab Oikawa’s shoulder, forcing the brunette to look at him and gaved the Omega a smile. Maybe this was it. A chance for both brothers to come to terms with themselves, the moment to discuss openly the years of secrets and resentment in order to build a better future for their kingdom. Oikawa let out a heavy sigh.

“Okay.” 

Kageyama’s head sprung back up to look at the Omega, sporting a surprised look on his face that was shifting into a soft smile. Relief evident in the Alpha’s face.

“Tonight.” The Omega continued. “I’ll go to your room and we’ll talk, okay? I was serious about being overworked.” Oikawa gruffed as he stood up. He leaned out of the carriage and was helped down by Daichi.

The remaining two Alphas in the carriage took a little longer to stand.

“I’m glad that you decided to talk.” Iwaizumi’s smile was directed to something past the other Alpha’s head. “Tooru has been waiting a long time for this opportunity, so try to be open to what he has to say to you, okay?” And with that, Iwaizumi stood and got out of the carriage. Kageyama only nodded and stood up to follow suit.

  
  


\-----

  
  


The door opened and all the chatter that had enveloped the room came to a halt, all curious and intrigued eyes locked on the shadow now crossing the doorway. A sigh of relief at the recognition of the moving figure.

“Saeko-san!” A young enthusiastic female voice echoed through the silence, followed quickly by a terrified yelp when a second taller figure entered the room with her.

“Don’t be scared Yachi!” The Alpha woman gestured promptly. “He is a friend.” She announced slowly. The duo got fully into the room and Tsukishima could appreciate all the pale and underfed faces just staring back at him. “He is Tsukishima Kei, my brother in law!” She said chipperly. “And, more importantly, the man that helped me into getting you out!” She beamed at Yachi with eyes in crescent moon shapes as her smile made its way to them.

“Really?!” The young, still trembling girl gasped excitedly at the news. Her eyes sparkled at the prospect of freedom. 

“That’s awesome Yachi!” Hinata’s voice came echoing the enthusiasm of the blond girl. Yachi nodded enthusiastically back at him, his smile a copy of the girl’s. “What about me Saeko-nesan?” His tired little body couldn’t handle the anxiety cursing through his veins. Sleep hadn’t come last night and if the bags under his eyes were any indication, he hadn’t had much rest during the day either.

Saeko avoided Hinata’s intense stare while letting air through her teeth in an apologetic way. She shifted her weight to her other foot while scratching the back of her head.

“I’m sorry kiddo… I’m afraid you were part of the bargain chip for Yachi’s payment.”

The smile left Hinata’s face in seconds. The blond girl took a hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp, understanding the meaning of those words. 

“Hinata! No!” She turned to the ginger with a panicked face. “If it takes you for me to be free, I don’t want it!” She held back her tears.

Saeko sighed at that, it’s not like she could do anything to change the way the Omegas felt at that moment, but she really wanted to. She couldn’t and wouldn't say that she understood the fear and threats the Omegas felt on their everyday life if she were to compare it with the risks and sacrifices she had _decided_ to take for the captives, but the bittersweet feeling she felt after announcing the freedom of one at the cost of another... that was definitely a pain that she very much shared with them. 

“No, Yachi. It’s okay. I would rather have you freed.” The ginger took the hands of the blond girl through the space within the cell. “I would never forgive myself if you stayed here because of me. If I can help you in any way to get your freedom back, I’ll be more than happy to do so!” He gave her a candid, genuine smile that shone brightly in the poorly lit room while Yachi wiped the tears that ran freely down her cheeks. . 

Saeko always marveled at how selfless some Omegas were. She had seen it more than enough times to consider it more of a biological trait rather than a personality issue, but the bond the Omegas created with each other in times of stress and camaraderie was genuinely strong, capable of sacrificing themselves in order to save a fellow captive whose name wasn’t a thing they knew even a day before. It was one of the many reasons she kept on being fascinated by their kind.

“Besides! I can defend myself! So don’t worry!” He lifted his hand over his puffed up chest and shoved his thumb in the middle of it while tossing his head back a little. “I won’t let any of those stupid Alphas hunt me down, just you wait!” He said grinning even wider, echoing his words of encouragement. Then, as an afterthought he flinched and turned flushing brightly towards Saeko. “No-not that I’m saying that all Alphas are like that!, Saeko-nesan! You are amazing! And nice! And thank you for getting Yachi out!” He said in a blur of panic, embarrassed words and jerky hand movements before bowing his head towards the blond woman yelling his thanks loudly.

Saeko couldn’t help but remember the intense glare with which the Omega had welcomed her back in the room after their first meeting. It had taken her more than kind words and the assurance that she was trying to help them to actually sway the ginger’s conviction of fighting and resisting with every tooth, nail and bone in his body. Poor Ryu had now a very distinctive row of teeth marks in his right arm as proof of the ginger’s resolve. She couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped her mouth. She really hoped that Hinata was right. Her faith in the ginger’s words more on hope than reason, she knew far too well how hard escaping the Royal Grounds was, every year getting harder and harder with the knowledge of previous successful breakouts and the new measures put up to counter them.

“So… is this shrimp the one that will take on the king?” The monotonous voice broke her free from reminiscing memories.

Hinata visibly flinched at the comment.

“Shrimp?!” He yelled in anger, receiving a couple of snickers as a reply. Take Hinata to be the only Omega brave -or dumb enough- to react at the comment regarding his height, instead of the very pressing news that he had been chosen by the crown itself to participate in the hunt.

Tsukishima didn’t even register the irritation emanating from the small Omega, he had turned to look at the giggling sound, breath stopping at the realization that he was staring at the source of the entrancing smell from earlier. Cute freckles adorned the nose and cheeks of a dark greenish-haired young man and when the Omega opened his eyes again, Tsukishima could swore that he hadn’t seen eyes like those before. The Omega looked at him for the first time, evident shock in his wide eyes. They stood like that, holding their gazes before acknowledging loud noisy yaps coming from his side.

“Oi! Are you listening! Come and fight me you beanpole!” Hinata was jumping and stomping while pointing his finger towards Tsukishima in an evident challenging gesture. The blond just clicked his tongue and shrugged.

“I have better and more important things to do than fighting a little, tiny Omega.” He used his height to intimidate Hinata before adding. “Besides, if I were you, I would leave all that energy to challenge his majesty instead.” He added a smirk for measure, making Hinata pout and make angry grunts as a reply.

“The king?!” Yachi was the one to shout out what should have been Hinata's main concern. “Hinata is going to be chased by the king himself?!”

“Well, not the king _yet_ , much more like the crown prince and the nobility of Shiratorizawa, Nohebi and Inarizaki, but yes, little shrimpy here will be lucky if he can make it out without being captured.” The blond kept on riling the ginger.

Saeko shook her head, always enjoying the tall blond’s way of expressing himself and his rather _particular_ way of socializing.

“So…” She started, trying to recall everyone’s attention after the chattering mumbles that had broken out following the blond’s words. “The reason why my dear brother in law is here has a good side.” She said gesturing towards Yachi. “And a more not so good side to it.” She tried the last sentence in a way to lighten up the mood a bit. The news that followed was never easy to deliver. “As you may have figured it out, the crown was just here for their harvest of participants. Besides Hinata, they have paid for 4 more Omegas for the hunt.” Her announcement was received by a crowd of loud gasps and shared frightened looks between the captives.

“That means that 5 of us will have to participate in the Royal hunt?” One of them asked in a not so steady voice.

“Yeah, I’m afraid so.” Saeko crossed her arms, studying the mood of the room. Her experience with anxious Omegas had taught and trained her to feel when the more sensitive ones could fall into a drop. Sensing no one in distress, she continued. “They asked specifically for Hinata only, so I was thinking that we could start with volunteers in order to help those who may not make it. Wait for a chance to hopefully get them out in the future.” She said in an optimistic tone, knowing from previous years how protective Omegas tend to be with their weaker members, especially in circumstances like this one.

A couple of seconds passed in complete silence. Some looked at each other, hoping that someone else would take their place and raised their hand before they would feel guilty enough to do so. It took 4 long silent seconds for the young man in the coop in front of Hinata to raise his hand.

“I volunteer.” The man said. “I’m one of the oldest here, I wouldn’t forgive myself if a pup took my place just because I’m scared.” The young man was average in height, was lean with beautiful light grey hair. A small mole was placed just under his left eye that only helped to accentuate his gentle smile even more. 

His gesture was followed soon by others, a girl a couple of years older than Hinata with brownish long hair was the second to raise her hand, followed closely by a young man with black and light grey hair sporting a blank stare. When there was only one last free spot, Yamaguchi made a gesture of raising his arm, only to be halted by Tsukishima’s hopeful look.

“Please don’t.” The blond whispered lowly, fearing he would be heard.

In the brief seconds of the Omega’s hesitation, another hand was raised, effectively sealing the fate of the next five participants of the Primeveral Festival’s Royal hunt.

“Thank you everyone!” Saeko bowed her head. “I really, really hope that you can make it out there.” There was a sad smile on her face. “Tomorrow the Royal members of the Festival’s committee will come for you. I suggest that you don’t put on much resistance, they won’t care about your safety nor physical integrity, they are just paid to get you there.” She was looking directly at Hinata. “So if you don’t want your chances at succeeding reduced, I would not struggle until you get to the Hunting Grounds. Once you are there though…” She grinned. “Use everything you’ve got to beat the crap out of them!” She ended with an encouraging shout, in an attempt to give all the participants the hope that they could actually beat the Alphas in their very distorted hunting game.

“Yes!” The echoes of participants and captives reverberated in the walls, uplifting the mood and filling them with a lively chatter; those who would remain in the Cabin thanking the volunteers asking them if they could help in some way or another. Thought of repaying their favor showing how they wholeheartedly believed in Saeko’s words of a possible future escape.

In the midst of the noisy, more upbeat atmosphere, Tsukishima had gotten closer to the green haired Omega, wanting to be near the object of his current internal turmoil. He couldn’t understand what he was feeling in those moments, watching up close the beautiful and sweet smelling creature. He expected it to be complicated, difficult to explain and harder to convey, but what he didn’t expect was the words coming from the Omega’s mouth.

“It’s you!” He said in the most excited and alluring sound the blond had heard. “It’s really you! I can’t believe it!”

“Do I … know you?” Tsukishima got to stand right in front of the Omega’s cage. He tried to put the face and a name together. The other youngster claimed to know Tsukishima, how on earth had he misplaced the name of the owner of _those_ _eyes_ staring intensely back at him?

“Oh! It’s okay, you probably don’t remember!” A tiny blush spreaded across the freckles of the green-haired man. He kept his gaze downwards, embarrassed to look at the Alpha. “But two years ago you helped me and my pack out of a Lodger’s camp. You were so cool!” The Omega was sparkling while retelling his story. “You came in the middle of the night and unlocked all the cages without the Lodgers noticing! We managed to escape thanks to you!” 

“How… how do you know it was me?” Tsukishima had a defensive look on his face. He side-glanced at Saeko in a very much concerned way. His and his brother’s vigilante-like missions had remained a secret, even to Saeko, who would very much disapprove of the whole scheme. Having her husband wafting Omega pheromones to attract the Lodgers meanwhile Tsukishima quickly unlocked crates, cut ropes and gave knives before quickly picking up his brother, wasn’t exactly what Saeko had imagined by “brotherly bonding time” all those years ago. 

The Omega blush intensified at the question and very evidently stared at the floor, unable to look at the Alpha’s eyes. “Um… Your scent. I… I couldn’t forget your smell.” He said softly. 

“What happened to your pack?” Tsukishima tried, _really_ tried not to focus on the fact that the Omega had just said those words and how they had made a mess of his heartbeat.

“They… um… I’m alone now.” 

An uncomfortable silence came upon the both of them.

“Well Yamaguchi, isn’t it fate then, that _Tsuki_ here has offered to take you home?” Saeko’s voice made the blond flinch and turned hastily to the woman. 

“What?! I didn’t-”

“Oh! No! Please don’t!” It was the aforementioned Omega’s pleas that made Tuskishima shut up immediately and whiplash his head towards the young man this time. A hurt and confused look on his face. “I’m… I’m not worth your money.” Yamaguchi twisted his hands on the bottom hem of his shirt. “I don’t have any relatives as well, so your money would do no good. Please, use it to save someone who deserves it more.” The Omega was trying to avoid the blond Alpha’s eyes, staring intently at the ground with sad eyes.

Tsukishima tsked loudly and got closer to the Omega’s enclosure, forcing him to look up back at him.

“Shut up! I can’t stand people telling me what I can or can’t do.” He held Yamaguchi’s stare as he pressed on. “I was responsible for your freedom back then, so it’s my duty to make sure that you keep it.” 

Yamaguchi was barely holding the blond man’s gaze, unable to put into words what the was feeling that caused him to grow so nervous at the Alpha’s attention. He felt so small, so weak, so pathetic. Feelings he had grown so accustomed to during years of being told of his unnecessary place in his pack, feelings that prompted him to run, run away in hopes of never having to feel them again, but here he was. Feeling them as intensely, but in so, so many different ways. The intense eyes of the man in front of him, made Yamaguchi feel like he _wanted_ to be those things, small, delicate, weak, just so he could be enveloped and protected by that stare. He felt anxious of what those eyes were making his inner Omega feel and crave for. He muttered under a heavy blush the only words that came to him at that moment.

“I’m sorry Tsukki.”

“Uh… you… Ugh!” Tsukishima hit his forehead with the palm of his hand in a groan. He really wasn’t cut out for this. “There is nothing to be sorry for.” The blond’s face was hidden from view as the heat of his face made it impossible to look at anybody right now. The hatred towards the stunt pulled by Saeko being barely softened by how sweet his nickname sound coming from the mouth of one timid freckled boy.

There was a loud clap that snapped the moment both young men were sharing. Saeko grinned at the deathly glance Tsukishima threw at her before effectively gathering once more the captive’s attention.

“So, any questions before getting things ready?” Saeko asked the room.

“Um… I have one.” Hinata hummed while raising his hand. “You mentioned that the king had asked for me? How did he know who I was?”

“Excellent question Hinata!” Saeko's always happy demeanor was a blessing to lift the nerves of the room. “More than picking _you_ , he picked your scent.”

“Isn’t that kind of… personal?” Hinata was trying very hard not to blush right now at how self conscious he felt at the thought of other people openly smelling his scent.

“Apparently his majesty took a liking to your smell shrimpy. You should have seen his face. It was _scary_ .” The smirk planted on the Alpha’s face was trying to hide how Tsukishima’s thoughts were fighting over the need to tell the Omega how serious he should take the situation and how he didn’t want to show that he _actually_ cared.

Hinata visibly flinched at the comment.

“Don’t mind him, Hinata!” Saeko said smiling. “Tsukishima may have a crappy attitude, but he means well.” She glared at Tsukishima who only avoided her gaze. “But now that we are at that topic, I think it’s important that you understand the significance of it.” She hold the eyes of the Omegas looking at her intently. “Remember the piece of cloth we made you scent?” She waited for them to nod. “Well, at tomorrow's ceremony, all Alphas participating will receive a sample of it. Whether they track you down specifically or not, the fact remains that they will be _able_ to.” Saeko’s tone became deadly serious. “You must understand. The Primeveral festival is an already unfair ceremony for Omegas everywhere... But the hunt that takes place in the Royal’s Grounds is purposely rigged to _make_ you lose.” 

The whole room became quiet at the statement. 

“It’s not only the scents giving you away what’s unfair.” Tsukishima chimed in in his apathetically analytical voice. “But while you are on foot and unprovided, the royals will hunt at horseback with provisions to last a week or more. They will _know_ where you are at all times and when not, they will have the means to find out. While you lie unfed, tired and at the mercy of the forest, they will have water, food and rest.” Tsukishima was not even trying to soften the blows. The loud gulping sound of someone swallowing down his anxiety was the only thing that broke the deafening silence of the room. “They _will_ use this at their advantage. They will lure you out, track you down, make you feel safe about your surroundings and _then_ they will attack, forcing you to enter a continuous draining high alert state until you drop from exhaustion.” He held the undivided attention of the breathless room before adding. “This is a game for them, and they know how to play it.”

“But that doesn’t make it unwinnable." Hinata’s voice was steady, unfazed and focused on the bespectacled Alpha. "We’ll just have to run faster, be smarter and fiercer than them.” The look on his eyes made the blond’s stomach twist. Was he for real? He had just been told of how unfair and impossible it was to make it out unscathed and the ginger was just brushing it off as if facing 5 grown up Alphas fired up under the prospect of chasing and hunting prey was nothing less of a feat.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue and crossed his arms in annoyance. “Approaching the hunt with reckless behaviour is not the solution, _Omega_.” He enunciated the status of the ginger, trying to drill in his apparently blank brain the greatest deterrent about this whole situation. He paused to pin his scowl on the ginger who seemed impassive at his words before going again. “A happy go-lucky attitude is what will bring you down if you don’t take it seriously.”

“I am taking it seriously!” Hinata rebutted.

“You can’t actually think that you can just wish to be faster, or smarter and that will _actually_ grant you the abilities to be better than an Alpha on the prowl, do you?” Tsukishima was getting angry. The ginger was really getting on his nerves.

“I don’t need to be an Alpha to beat one! I just need my pride and my legs to prove that I’m as capable as any other, be it Alpha, Omega or whatever.” The ginger bit back, clearly frustrated.

“Hinata, I don’t doubt your skills, but let’s be real for a second.” The silver haired Omega was speaking now. A soft tone trying to calm the mood between the two youngsters arguing. “We _are_ at a disadvantage. If they can track our smell, it doesn’t matter how fast or resilient you are, they have horses and food and the much needed rest that none of us have had in probably a long time.” 

Hinata didn’t argue back this time.

“It’s true. You are at a disadvantage.” Saeko had taken back the reins of the discussion. “But there are ways to make it fairer.” She smiled once more, a bit of hope settling on their hearts. “The first and most important thing that you need to take care of is how to get rid of your scent.”

“But our scent blockers were taken… And there is no way that they will provide us with any.” One of the participant Omegas, the girl, reasoned. “Or do you have some that we could use?”

“I’m afraid that even if I gave you new ones, they would certainly remove them before the competition. No. What you will need to do during this following week is to remember that the forest is your _ally_ ; in there, you will find everything you need to survive and escape.”

“Herbs!” Yachi shouted at the realization.

“Exactly!” Saeko beamed. “The forest is rich in heavy perfumed plants, if you grind them and mix them with mud, you’ll be able to stick it directly on your scent glands. If you smell like the forest, you are hidden within the forest.” She winked at them cheerfully.

The information was received with excited nods, clapping of their hands and encouraging words, making Saeko to continue on with the list of very important do’s and don'ts that she had gathered and dutifully presented every year to the unlucky participants of the Royal hunt, only for the precautions to get longer and longer with the passing of the years. 

“One last thing.” She said, returning to her more serious tone, the one she used when she was angry about something. “Since a couple of years ago, the crown has started to use packs of beasts they had bred and raised just to protect the border of the Hunting grounds. They _say_ they did it because invaders would try to enter the forest through the edge of the woods.” She rolled her eyes in a clear gesture of disbelief. “But the decision was taken just after a _very_ unsuccessful hunt where half of the Omegas managed to escape before the ending of the Festival.” She let out a melancholic sigh accompanying a very sad expression. “Since then, the rates of a successful escape have been reduced to nearly 0.” She paused before continuing, trying to ingrain the importance of the situation. “ _That_ is your number one concern. Avoid the hounds at all costs. Don’t let them see you, smell you or hear you.” She looked at the Omegas intensely. “If they do… It will mean the game’s over.” 

The whole room held its breath and nodded gravely as answer.

  
  


\----

  
  


The marble walls of the castle kept echoing the prince’s footsteps, the only sound in the desolated corridor that connected the main hall with the wing that held the private chambers of the prince. Well, the only sounds besides the grumbles coming from the very frustrated and tired owner of such footsteps. If you were to ask Oikawa, he would deny that he had been avoiding Iwaizumi all afternoon, but the fact remained that he had not seen the knight at all after they had concluded the preparations for tomorrow’s evening ceremony.

The Token Ceremony was what remained of the long forgotten tradition of interested Omegas presenting a scented garment of sorts to the Alphas they would deem worthy enough to be chased by. Nowadays, the only thing that remained from its past counterpart, was the scented piece of clothing given by the master of ceremonies to each and everyone of the participant Alphas. The idea was to give a fair game to them, so if the Omega they were chasing were to be captured by someone else, they would still be able to hunt another one down. If the Omegas actually _wanted_ to give their scent to the Alphas was a long lost question that not many deemed important to ask.

Actually, the only thing on the people's mind was the fact that the end of the ceremony signaled the beginning of the week-long hunting season around the kingdom. For the Alphas, it meant a whole night of celebration, music, drinking and bets before the start of the hunt the next morning. For the Omegas, though, it meant the beginning of a week of closed doors and carefully chosen destinations, hidden gatherings and the constant fear that someone would take advantage of the festival to lay their inner demons out and onto themselves. 

Oikawa had spent the whole afternoon supervising the food, the music, the alcohol and the designation of a master of ceremonies for tomorrow’s event. He had made sure that the provisions for the hunt and the horses were made available for the Alphan guests first thing on the morning following the ceremony and he had dutifully and successfully gone through the never ending long checklist of pending arrangements, so one would have to excuse him if he was really favoring the idea of just laying down on his bed instead of having an impending, long and extenuating conversation with his younger brother. He just didn’t have the energy to do so. So, it was also forgivable from him if he just wasn’t in the mood to face his friend who wasn’t going to let him off the hook until he had such dreadful conversation with said brother.

He sighed in defeat.

If his assumptions were correct, Iwaizumi was certainly going to come and pick him up after dinner. If life had taught him something, was that no matter how much he had tried to hide from the knight in previous occasions, Iwaizumi would always find a way to track him down, so, he was resigned to the idea of probably half an hour of absolute quiet and rest before the Alpha made his appearance through the doorsill. 

He sighed again as he opened the double wooden doors of his room with more flare than he should be proud of. Striding with tired legs, he let himself slump ungracefully on the bed hugging the pillow with both arms and sighing deeply into it. He remained in that blissful position for barely a minute until a hard knock came pounding on the door. _It was to be expected_. He grunted as he turned his head towards the noise. 

_Of course Iwa-Chan’s perfect timing would find the perfect moment to just ruin my mood_. He said to himself through gritted teeth, preparing a massive frown as he waited for the doors to be opened. Only that they didn’t. The doors remained stilled, waiting for the prince’s acknowledgement of whoever was knocking. 

“Huh… so not Iwa-chan.” He mumbled before picking him up and sitting on the bed. A second knock came from the door making Oikawa to stand up and walked towards the door. “Who is it?” He called, but he received no answer. Something made him uneasy. Call it instinct, paranoia or years of awareness around too many strangers in the castle, but something in his gut made him pause halfway through. “Who is it?” He called again, louder this time.

“It’s me, your highness. Shirabu Kenjiro.” The voice said promptly. Oikawa remembered the name and face. He was the son of a high Alpha noble, avid in politics and whom Oikawa had been trying to cajole for a while due to his tight connections with Shiratorizawa. “Your highness appointed me as master of ceremonies for tomorrow’s event.” He announced as to remind the prince.

Oikawa only needed to remind himself of the purpose of why he had done it, though. It's not that he hated the guy, but his views on how and who should rule were a bit... too traditional for his tastes. _Just sway him to your side Tooru... everyone has a price._

“There seems to be a problem, your highness.” Shirabu continued with a concerned tone.

Oikawa sighed. This wasn’t going to be good. He felt the evident signs of an imminent headache coming. He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, greeting the man with a strained smile. “What seems to be the issue?” He tried not to groan.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but there’s apparently a problem with one of the fabrics to be used in the Ceremony.” Shirabu said, looking towards the ground bashfully.

Oikawa had opened the door completely and had leaned onto the door, more out of exhaustion than poise, but the other man didn’t have to know that.

“And what kind of problem it is, that you had to ask _me_ directly instead of handling it with Lord Tsukishima, the one _in charge_ of all things related to the Omegas participating on the hunt?” He closed his eyes as he massaged the sides of his forehead with his thumb and middle finger in an attempt to lower the thumping in his head. Ever since opening the door the pain had become more intense as if his body was yelling for him to close the door. Exhaustion was not a good thing. 

“That’s because we are missing one, your highness...” The deep warning tone that accompanied the voice made Oikawa’s blood freeze and the pain in his head to drill the message in his mind. _Threat_. He recognized the meaning behind that tone. He had used that tone before. It meant the calm before the storm. But to be used against _him_ it meant… He snapped his eyes open only to realize the whole demeanor of Shirabu had changed. His locked-on glaring eyes pinned the Omega as he voiced. “Yours.”

A figure flashed from the side in the split second that took Tooru to understand what was happening. A tall man had thrown himself towards the prince, one hand holding a rag that covered the nose and mouth of the Omega while the other clamped Oikawa's shoulder and violently turned him over, securing him in a tight hold exerting enough pressure so that the feeble attempts at clawing the oppressing arms and hands were rendered useless.

Shirabu entered the room and closed the doors behind him, not wanting any bypasser to notice how the prince panicked movements only became slower and weaker as the combination of the chemicals in the cloth and the inability to properly breathe with it, was taking all the strength out of the fighting Omega.

Oikawa’s knees buckled and darkness started to creep in from the corners of his vision. His knees fell on the voluptuous carpet and the rest of his body followed as his arms and legs were unable to hold him anymore. His head hit the soft material of the rug and soon after the pair of boots approaching his way were replaced by the face of the master of ceremonies himself.

“My, my.” Shirabu was squatting next to the prince. “With such a big secret, one would think that you would be more careful on what you vented out in the open... You never know who might be listening in, _your highness_.” He enunciated the honorifics with venom behind his words, pausing to see how Oikawa’s eyes droopily closed, all signs of consciousness leaving his body. He stood up once more and gave Oikawa’s limp figure a final look of disdain. “Take him Kawanishi. I’ll go inform his majesty.” 

When Iwaizumi Hajime knocked on Oikawa’s door later that evening and found it empty, a fond smile appeared on his lips. The assumption of the prince having left on his own to mend things with his brother put a proud feeling on his chest.

_Good for you Tooru. It’s time that you and Tobio talked_. 

And with that satisfying thought, the Alpha left for the night, hoping to give the princes the much needed time and space they owed to each other. Distracted as he was, he didn’t seem to notice the pair of hooded figures making their way out of the palace and into the night with a precious cargo perched on their back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not so sure if I love this chapter, I had so much trouble writing it down and I'm still not a 100% sure I like it. The writing seems off and I had SUCH a hard time finding the words to convey what I wanted the characters to say and feel (I'm pretty sure the grammar and vocabulary on this one is going to be baaaad). 
> 
> I watched a lot of the first years interactions in the anime to try to keep them in character, but I think that just made it ... UGH... worse. I think that for the next one I'll rely more in improvisation and memory hehehe.
> 
> I love you guys!
> 
> Next chapter: The Token ceremony


	5. The Token Ceremony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys…. I can’t thank you enough!! I can’t believe we got to 100 kudos and 1500 hits!! I’m so grateful!!! I never, ever, ever thought I would get people interested enough to read something I wrote. You are the best! Your comments make me cry every time I read them! I don’t deserve you!!
> 
> By the way… I have rated this story as teenage and above, and I have read what the ratings are, but they are kind of vague. I don’t plan on adding smut, and all that I’ve written is nothing I wouldn’t find in a Harry Potter book or a Hunger Games title… but I wanted to make sure that you guys felt comfortable with this rating. I got self conscious with the usage of some words.
> 
> Any who. Thank you again to anyone who has left comments, kudos, subscriptions and corrections. You guys ROCK! And without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
> 
> \---  
> Edit: HOLY COW! A huuuuge, HUGE thanks to CShirSalad for the amazing help in revising grammar and vocabulary. I can't thank you enough! I'm learning so much already I really, really don't deserve you! I can't... I don't have words! I love you!

Iwaizumi’s day had been quiet. _Suspiciously_ quiet. He had started his rounds first thing in the morning, managing to finish the whole designated wing without being once pestered by Oikawa. Thinking on what the brothers may have had discussed the night before was making him restless, he thought of what the discussion could mean for the future of his friend, how open the Omega might have been or what he had chosen to keep as a secret. The overthinking had made him anxious enough to force him to take his breakfast with the rest of the royal knights, unable to keep his thoughts in check at the prospect of a silent meal while he waited for the inevitable prince to drag him away to whine about the whole endeavor. To his surprise, he managed to get through his whole plate without being interrupted. 

_Odd._ He thought as he made his way to the training grounds. Having the retainers of the other countries courts had transformed the daily knights’ training session into an array of friendly sparring competitions. Accompanied by Oikawa, they would watch trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses of the other country's knights, in a kind of hobby they had started to enjoy and bicker about. To his very frustrating surprise, he didn’t find the Omega in the area either. 

_Did he overslept?_ Coming from the Omega, that was a really unlikely explanation.

“Iwaizumi-san.” The voice of the captain made him come back from his thoughts. “Everything okay? You seem worried.” Daichi asked as he came closer, his own face mirroring the furrowed brows on Iwaizumi’s face.

“It’s nothing. I mean, nothing _yet_.” The knight replied with a puzzling phrasing.

“One of your gut feelings?” Daichi teased.

“Something like that. It’s just that…” Iwaizumi sighed. “Oikawa hasn’t pestered me all morning.”

Daichi couldn’t help the burst of laughter that came after.

“Shouldn’t that be a good thing then? He’s probably still asleep. He has been really busy, and with all the things needed to be perfectly ready for today I can only imagine how he would need the extra rest.” Daichi shrugged.

Iwaizumi only hummed a reply. One thing that Oikawa wasn’t good at, was resting. He would rather overwork himself and plaster a smile than take a whole morning off just to recharge. No. Something was not right.

Daichi raised an eyebrow at the still frowning Alpha. “Are you sure this _feeling_ is not just you missing him?” The smirk on the captain’s face made absolutely nothing to Iwaizumi. He didn’t even attempt to humour the captain back. 

“Well, if you see him around, tell him I’m looking for him.” Iwaizumi decided to say instead, not really comforted by the other Alpha’s words. “I’ll go see if he is still in his chambers.” And with that he took his leave.

“You are no fun Iwaizumi!” Daichi laughed as the other man waved his hand already on his way to the prince quarters.

As he kept on walking on the marble corridor, a nagging feeling started to creep from his stomach. There was _something_ that was making him restless. When he knocked on the wooden doors and entered the room just to find it empty, the uneasiness only grew.

He made his way in a quick pace to the main hall. He bursted through the doors and started to survey the tables, the personnel and the Royals inside. No sign of one Oikawa Tooru. He did see the young crown prince sitting though, alone and in his usual table. His brain decided to play with horrible scenarios that involved a certain blue-eyed Alpha prince and a recently outed Omega brother. He made his way in an agitated pace, startling the prince when he sat a little too loud at his side.

“Shit! Iwaizumi!” Kageyama gasped trying to recover from the jump. “You scare-”

“Where’s Oikawa?” Iwaizumi barked. 

“What?”

“Where is Oikawa?” He repeated slowly, almost in a threatening way.

Kageyama looked confused, hurt even. He looked at the ground with really sad and betrayed eyes.

“I don’t know and I don’t care” He spat angrily before he bit back whatever words were coming up his throat. He sighed before looking at the knight once more, this time there was only sadness in his eyes. “... He never came to talk yesterday.”

“He… never. What?” Iwaizumi felt how his gut got tighter and tighter, the feeling of dread making him numb. “So last night… he never went to your room?”

Kageyama shook his head.

“Tobio. I need you to tell me the truth. You and Oikawa never got to talk yesterday?” Iwaizumi’s look and aura was frantic.

“No. He never did.” The prince was now confused at the emotions that were pouring out from the knight.

“Fuck!” Iwaizumi slammed his hands on the table and shot himself up from the chair, startling the prince and half of the staff present. He dashed past the people in the room, out of the hall, ran through the group of maids in the main corridor and almost crashed into the prince’s room’s door. He panted as he tried to catch his breath, his whole body desperately looking for anything that could give him a clue. Marks, scents, stains, anything that could tell him if Oikawa had even spent the night in his bedroom.

The maid who had been almost run over by the desperate knight peeked through the door’s entryway at the panicky movements of the Alpha. With the feeling that she might regret her next words she dared to speak.

“Um… Is everything all right, Sir Iwaizumi?”

The Alpha perked up at his name and turned to grab the maid’s forearms. The unhinged look in his eyes caused the maid to wish she actually hadn’t said anything.

“Who made the prince’s chambers this morning?” He tried to keep his composure so as to not cause any more distress to the maid. He wasn’t doing a very good job at it.

“Nobody yet sir.” She swallowed at the knight’s tightening hold on her arms. “As the chambers were apparently not used, they were relegated to the evening chores.”

Iwaizumi’s ominous feeling took hold of his already taut stomach, the pain becoming real and piercing. He felt how his muscles tensed and his lungs choked at the realization that, indeed, something was very, _very_ wrong.

“Call for Sawamura-san!” The knight all but roared the orders. The woman stood there frightened to her bones and just kept looking at him, not understanding what was happening. “Now!” He barked as he shook the woman’s arms, basically throwing her towards the door, making her yelp in reaction before dashing to the training grounds with barely a nod as to show she had understood what her orders were. 

Iwaizumi stared at the room once more, panic and guilt making their way to his thoughts. 

_I should have been here. It’s my duty. It’s my fault. He’s gone. He can’t be gone. Tooru, you can’t be gone!_

His thoughts spiraled out of control, the anxiety started to take over his mind and body, his hands started to tremble and his knees buckled. He fell onto the ground choking and gasping for air. He was unable to breathe and the previous sprint was making it even harder for him to inhale. Filled with despair, he clutched his arms and curled into a fetal position. And it was in that vulnerable position, in the middle of a horrifying panic attack hugging himself tightly and panting desperately for air, that Daichi came to find him. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The loud thumping in his head was doing absolutely no favors to the pain that accompanied his waking moments. Added to the migrain that kept him from opening his eyes, the incessant chatter was only making it worse.

“But that would mean that someone brought him after.”

“Well, he didn’t come from the Cabin. It’s only safe to assume that they may have bought him somewhere else?”

“But it seemed that the guard was being bribed or something. I mean… it’s weird that he had a sack on his head to begin with.” 

His grunts at trying to move his hurting limbs made the voices shut up and grow curious. He felt the staring on his form before he even tried to open his eyes.

“Hey there… Are you awake?” One soft calming voice greeted.

“We thought you might be dead…. Or close to.” The other, in a much more annoying tone replied.

“Hinata! That’s not nice!” The first one shushed.

Oikawa finally opened his eyes and saw two things at the same time, the bright mop of orange head and the beaming smile that accompanied the bright ensemble. He grunted before closing his eyes again. It was too early and he was too tired to deal with this. He had so many things to do, and he hadn’t even talked with Kageyama yet. 

He sprung up at the thought, flashes of what had transpired last night made him suddenly too aware of his surroundings. The pulsing headache he received as a result made him wince at his sudden movements.

“Where am I? Who are you?” He demanded, with the most defensive stance he could muster in his current state.

“Shh, it’s okay.” The not bright orange sunny guy said while showing his open palms in a calming gesture. “I’m Sugawara Koushi.” The grey haired man spoke softly, as if trying to tame a wild animal. He then proceeded to slowly move his hand towards the orange child. “This is Hinata Shouyo. And I’m afraid we are currently in the palace’s hunt warehouse.” He finished with a sad smile. “I assume that you know what that means?” Sugawara ventured.

Oikawa was frozen in place. Too many thoughts came crashing down on him at the same time. He had been found out and not only that, he had been ratted out and was going to be forced to join the hunt… Her mother's words came to him as a spine-chilling echo, _if he were to be caught and bonded_ … At the thought of his nightmares coming true, his breaths became erratic and painful; his chest tightened up and he felt like he wasn’t able to breathe. With glassy eyes, shaky limbs and barely audible words, he looked helplessly to the pair in front of him trying to anchor his mind and drown the rising sheer panic that threatened to take him over the edge. 

The distinctive distress smell coming from the man in front of them made Sugawara and Hinata to step into action. The grey haired Omega took hold of the body of the prince and held him tightly against his chest, one hand as an unyielding security blanket and the other holding Oikawa’s hand, while the ginger started to thread his hands on the brunette locks, releasing calming waves of soothing smells in the same fashion he would do when Natsu suffered from a drop. They stood like that for what felt like forever, until the shivers of the dropping Omega calmed down enough for him to open his eyes and breathe with a steady rhythm again. His eyes were filled with tears and for once, he was not embarrassed to shed them, feeling for the first time since his mother’s embrace, the safe warmth of another Omega’s hold.

“Thank you.” He mumbled softly, letting himself be pampered by the duo. “My name is Oikawa Tooru, and I’m going to need your help.” The two other men looked at each other with questioning looks, then, as in agreement, both of them nodded at the man lying in their arms.

  
  


\-----

  
  


“What do you mean he is _gone_?” 

“Exactly that. There is no trace, no distinctive scents, no nothing.” The Alpha paced on the closed room. His movements made the other occupants compare him with a caged wild and intimidating animal. “I already checked the kitchens, the gardens, the main dining hall, the stables, the meetings rooms and even the guests bedrooms. No one knows of his whereabouts since yesterday’s dinner.”

“Was he… kidnapped?” A man with short pink brown hair hesitantly asked. It was a question all the current people in the room were thinking, but nobody had dared to ask yet. Take Hanamaki Takahiro to break the glass ceiling.

“I can’t say for certain.” Iwaizumi replied. “But I’m sure that the prince wouldn’t just leave a day before the Festival started. He knows what that could lead to.”

The rest of the room hummed. With how close they were to each other they could smell the acrid tense pheromones reeking from the knight. They couldn’t complain though, an urgent meeting of the prince’s closest confidants taking place in the closed chambers of the Royal, minus said prince was quite gossip worthy, so they had decided to skip the formalities and find an unoccupied storage room where they could discuss their next plan of action.

“Somebody must have seen something! Why haven’t we interviewed the staff and the other Royals yet?” Daichi asked in frustration.

Daichi’s question was a real valid one, really. In any other circumstances they probably would have approved of such a suggestion, but the thing was that the captain of the Royal guard was out of the innermost circle of people Oikawa trusted, so he didn’t know about the fact that the prince was not a Beta. If they started digging up and word came about Oikawa’s kidnapping due to his gender, it could mean a manhunt to find the Royal, with a prince as the price. They had to be discreet. They would have to find a way to find the information without actually asking for it. The other three knights just stared at him, tightened lips at not knowing how to reply.

“Well? Why haven’t we done such a thing?” Daichi was starting to get angry at how he seemed to be disregarded in the whole telepathic conversation.

Iwaizumi exchanged glances with the other two members of Oikawa’s secret bearers group, trying to decide if the captain should be told about the whole situation. He trusted Daichi, hell, he would put his life in the hands of the man, but for some reason Oikawa had decided not to. It wasn’t Iwaizumi’s secret to tell, but maybe now it was his shot to call. He sighed after Hanamaki and Matsukawa nodded in agreement.

“Sawamura-san.” He said in his low tone of voice. “Before we continue, there is something you need to know about the prince.” The solemnity of Iwaizumi’s statement made Daichi understand the weight of his upcoming words . “Prince Tooru is not a Beta. He is and always has been an Omega. And I’m afraid that he may have been targeted because of this.” Iwaizumi saw the working cogs in the captain’s head. “And no. Before you ask, the crown prince doesn’t know about this. The only people who know are in this room.”

“And, apparently, one other fucker who just made his way out of the castle with the prince.” This time it was Matsukawa the one to comment.

“We don’t know that. For all we know, he may still be in the area, stowed away until the ceremony begins.” Iwaizumi rebutted.

“What about the palace warehouse?” Hanamaki asked. “If the plan were to be for the prince to participate in the hunt, that is the safest place where he might be kept.”

“Safest and for a reason. The warehouse is off limits to anybody who is not part of the committee, we would need a Royal permit and the authorization of this year's master of ceremonies.” Iwaizumi grunted. “I will go talk with Kageyama and get that permit. In the meantime, Matsu, Makki, you will go to town and try to poke around for information. See if anybody is talking about it, or if there is gossip about selling something special.” Matsukawa nodded. “Sawamura, I want you to search the whole castle, ask around the maids and try to eavesdrop on any possible leak of where the prince may be. No one can know that the prince is missing, _especially_ the other country Royals, understood? If anybody asks, tell the prince is undisposed. I have already sent Yahaba to keep anyone from entering the room. We’ll avoid suspicions that way.”

He received three loud confirmations as reply.

“What about the master of ceremonies?” 

Iwaizumi huffed angrily. “I’ll deal with him. The man is a pain in the ass, but I’ll try to sway him without revealing the truth about Oikawa.” 

With their plan of action laid in front of them, the four men started to get out of the storage room when Daichi got hold of Iwaizumi’s shoulder, effectively stopping him. He turned to look at the captain.

“How are you holding up, Hajime?” For the captain to use his first name, it meant that he really was worried about his old time friend. 

“I’m not sure to be honest.” Iwaizumi let himself be vulnerable for the second time that day. The tightening in his chest ached once more as images of his crumbling figure in the ground flashed in his mind for a second. He sighed heavily, and his determined glare morphed into a softer one. “I… Um. Thank you Sawamura.” The knight smiled with thin tight lips at the captain. “I’m not sure what would have happened to me if it hadn’t been you the one to find me in that state.”

Daichi just laughed and patted Iwaizumi’s shoulder gently but firmly. “It was my pleasure Iwaizumi. Although, to find you in such conditions was quite shocking.” He closed his eyes before resting his hand on his chin. “Who would have thought that the stern and stoic knight could actually care about his prince?” He opened one eye and smirked at the other Alpha in an attempt to lift the somber mood Iwaizumi couldn’t seem to shake off.

“You're telling me.” The knight scoffed. “It was quite a revelation.” A fond smile was quickly trying to be hidden by the Alpha.

“Not as shocking as the news of the prince though. I’m still having a hard time processing all of it.” Daichi had a hurt look on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I could have appointed tighter security around him. We could have avoided this all together.” He crossed his arms in a scolding demeanor.

“It’s not that easy.” He scratched his head in frustration. “Tooru is a really prideful man and making those kinds of arrangements would make him think that he was weak or that he couldn’t protect himself.” Iwaizumi sighed, crossing his arms as well. “There is also the fact that the more people around the prince, the more chances for the secret to slip out. Imagine a royal guard finding about Oikawa while on his rut, or the prince’s heat. That could only lead to disaster.”

That statement left Daichi with many more questions and a blushing warmth quickly creeping through his neck as his brain started to make connections and indecent assumptions. He decided not to linger on those, and coughed into his hand instead.

“Well, I’m glad that you decided to trust me. I’ll make sure that it wasn’t misplaced.” Daichi’s broad smile had the amazing effect of making Iwaizumi feel grounded.

Hajime gave Daichi a more relaxed smile as reply and offered his stretched hand. Daichi took it and shook it.

“Thanks Daichi. I mean it.”

They let go of the handshake and, immediately after, was like they had flipped a switch; changing their friendly and fond demeanor to focused stares and intimidating postures. They had only hours before the Token Ceremony started, and if Oikawa was proven to be one of the participants… No. Iwaizumi decided he didn’t want to think about that. He would find Tooru and bring him back and everything would be back to normal. Everything would feel right again. Once the petty, brattish, smug, flamboyant Omega were to return to his side, _He_ would feel complete again.

  
  


\-----

  
  


“So let me get this straight.” Hinata said with an incredulous look. “You are _actually_ the first born prince, son of the king himself, who has hidden his Omega status his whole life and now got _conveniently_ captured a day before the Primeveral festival started? Did I get it right?”

The trio of Omegas were sharing one of the padded rooms of the palace’s hunting warehouse. Apparently, having a big number of Omegas in the same room had led to violent uprisings and complications in the past, so, for safety measures, the group of participants had been separated in two adjacent rooms, unable to communicate with one another. Oikawa didn’t know the other group of Omegas, but right now, part of him was wondering if they would be as loud as a certain member of his group.

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “Yes. For the tenth time Hinata, yes.” 

“Well, I’m sorry if I’m feeling a little bit skeptical, _oh grand king_.” Hinata pouted in a teasing voice. “But one would think that Royals at least respected family! How come that they have thrown you into this mess?” Hinata had his arms crossed and his head cocked to the side. 

“Grand ki-? Wha-?” Oikawa scoffed in annoyance. If there was anything he had picked up from his brief interactions with the orange-haired little man, it was that all that concerned him was as bright as his hair and as loud as he was short. He would make up noises and nicknames out for anyone and everything. He was cute, but also really intense about everything. He was very much someone he would like to have as a member of his court. Destiny was cruel to make them meet like this, and fate crueler for making them both Omega.

“Like I tried to explain to you, Hinata, my family _didn’t_ do it.” Oikawa paused, actually considering the alternative of his brother finding out somehow, and the whole idea of begging to talk to be some sort of plot or… Oikawa decided to stop his paranoid train of thoughts and not to let his mind betray the effort that his brother had made to patch things up. Tobio may've been a lot of things, but cruel was none of them.

“So, you know who did it or why?” Sugawara’s soft tone was shaking away Oikawa’s constant paranoid state.

Oikawa sighed heavily. The fact was that he wasn’t so sure. He had flashes here and there of what may have transpired the night before, but his mind was trying really hard to suppress the events.

“I’m still hazy about what happened last night, but I remember two people in my room. I’m pretty sure I knew at least one of them… and this feeling of not liking them.” Oikawa said in a frustrated pout.

“It’s okay. Don’t push yourself too much.” Suga cooed. “Your body is still fighting whatever they made you breathe and the previous drop. Just give it time.” Sugawara’s smile and soft petting on Oikawa’s hand was a much needed soothing balm. Was this to be touch starved? He couldn’t remember the last time he had been as relaxed with someone else touching him as he was right now. Oikawa let out the air through his nose as he smiled.

“You are surprisingly good at this.” He pointed out, a fond smile on his face.

The silver haired Omega blushed and scratched his neck while a sweet laugh came as reply. He looked longingly at the floor before the laugh stopped and a soft sad smile set on his face.

“Thank you. I have always wanted to have my own children and comfort them when in need. It was something I always looked forward to. Well… before all of this, of course.” The smile got tighter as Sugawara pondered about his own past and demons. Oikawa thought that there had to be something more about the other Omega to make him look like he did.

The three of them let the silence envelop and linger around them. Their own fears and anxieties about what the festival would mean to each of them making it hard to talk about it, but Hinata’s inability to remain quiet was proven once more when he visibly started twitching, clearly upset about something.

“No Suga-San!” Hinata’s voice cut their mulling. “We can’t think like that. We will get out of here and return to our families and friends!” He gave the other two his signature bright smile. Giving up was not a word that Hinata Shouyo apparently had in his vocabulary. The other two couldn’t help the smile that crept on theirs as well. If they had to go through hell in the next week, they might as well fight tooth and nail against it. 

“If we stick together and follow Saeko-nesan’s advice, we will be able to make it through. We will help Oikawa-san get back to the palace and everything will be fine!” He grinned at Suga and turned to face the prince. “But you have to make sure to keep your promise, Grand king.” Hinata stared intensely at the prince, piercing eyes made Oikawa actually fear the consequences of not upholding his end of the bargain.

“You have my word Chibi-chan. If I get out of here, I will make changes in this kingdom. I promise I will create a fairer future for the Omegas in this country. That has been my objective all along anyways. You just help me with the more…” He rolled his hand in front of him as he tried to find the words to convey his non-existent knowledge of the wilderness. “Surviving and not starving in a forest kind of aspect and everything will be fine.” He might have been an expert strategist, but his actual skills on foraging, tracking or hunting for food were not quite developed under the pampers of a life lived in the palace.

Hinata just laughed at the remark. “You just leave it to me! I’ve been living on the run for almost all my life. I’ll get us out safely!” His smile was really something else, it made them feel like it was actually possible. “I can’t wait to see the face of Natsu when I come home with the news! A life without fear! Man! I can’t wait!” He threw his hands in the air excitedly and let his back fall on the padded floor.

_All his life. He’s been on the run all his life. How can he be so happy and optimistic?_

Something about the Omega’s statement made Oikawa frustrated about his own life decisions. If someone like Hinata, who had been stripped of everything he once held dear could smile like there was hope in the future and fight like there was no surrender just to see his sister smile, then Oikawa would be damned if he could not get over his own hurdles. He felt determined, completely stoked on the ginger’s resoluteness. He had forgotten _why_ he had started to fight for his ascent to the throne, as if somewhere along the lines, he had become more focused on beating Kageyama to it than fighting the injustices that his kingdom had imposed on its people. It didn’t matter if he got the throne, it mattered what he could do once he got it.

“What are you thinking about, your highness?” Sugawara asked the prince.

Oikawa sighed fondly. “The little shrimp actually.” Both men glanced over the young one still blissful on the floor, eyes starting to flutter close as he fought the exhaustion. “He is… something, isn’t he?”

“The worst part is that I believe him.” Sugawara laughed. “He irradiates this aura of sorts that makes you want to protect and fear him at the same time… It’s scary.” He crossed his arms as he pondered. “He makes me think of how Omega’s are not what they tell you to be, and for once, I’m glad that that is the case.” 

There it was, that sad smile and longing eyes, an untold story that Oikawa was dying to know about.

“What happened to you?” He didn’t realize how the words came out of his mouth, but there they were. The other man looked at him in surprise, wide eyes as if being caught on. “I’m sorry.” He corrected quickly. “I know that for you to be here, life may not have been as fair as it should have been.”

“It’s okay. I think I want to talk about it actually. It may help my mind for tomorrow.” His smile became strained, the pain in his chest making it difficult to muster a genuine one. “I come from a very traditional household. Not here in Karasuno, though, I’m actually from Shiratorizawa, born and raised there.”

Oikawa just stared at him in complete shock. It was extremely rare for an Omega not from Karasuno to be captured by the Lodgers, an unbonded one being even rarer.

“I know what you may be thinking, but it has an explanation.” Suga continued. “As I said, my family was a really traditional one, Alphas reign and Omegas raise, all that mumbo jumbo.” He said in a mocking tone while rolling his eyes. “That was what I had been told all my life, and I believed it. I yearned for it actually. I wanted my own family and my own pups and to be useful to my pack and my mate in the future.” Oikawa just nodded. “So… when I was … _offered_ to a promising family’s Alpha son I was ecstatic. I couldn’t ask for more. I would be helping my family to climb the social hierarchy and I would be able to carry children for my mate, I would be fulfilling my role as an Omega in society, what was expected from me.” 

Sugawara chuckled quietly, a defeated look on his face. “Imagine my surprise when I found out that the promising Alpha was a scumbag who just wanted a chewing toy to play with, and once he got tired of me, he planned to sell me to another man’s toy box.” The Omega’s eyes had become watery, tears threatened to come out, but he was doing a good job at keeping them at bay. He had enough crying nights already. He gave out a shaky sigh instead. “So, I decided to leave. The night before I was to be taken, I ran and never stopped running. I somehow got to the border and passed out due to hunger and exhaustion. Next thing I know is that I was caged and being taken care of by a blond woman with a very energetic laugh.” Suga ended laughing softly and fondly at his memories. 

“I’m sorry.” Oikawa said, patting the other man’s shoulder. “I really am.” 

“I’m okay. I’m actually glad I made the decision of fighting for my future instead of accepting what fate had thrown at me.” Sugawara paused. “Well… It did shove me into this whole hunting thing which I’m not really thrilled about… but it’s still up to me what to make of it.” He said smiling at Hinata who had fallen asleep curled up on the floor next to him. The little Omega’s positiveness rubbing off onto the older man.

Oikawa smiled at that. “By the way… This Saeko lady…. Can you tell me more about her?” The prince’s eyebrow shot up in a questioning glance, glad that his intuitions were actually correct about the Alpha woman and her contribution to the Omega’s fight. He now had even more reasons to make it unscathed from the hunt.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Iwaizumi was trying to suppress it, but his anxiety was making it difficult to control his acrid scent. He had lost so much time already trying to locate the master of ceremonies that when the group got together again to discuss their findings, he almost lost it. 

Nothing. 

There was no word of anything going on in the city and the palace had been as quiet as the day before. For all they knew, Oikawa Tooru had simply vanished from their realm of existence.

He was marching with more conviction this time. Unable to face Kageyama before, he had tried to locate Shirabu Kenjiro, only to have proven it to be even more difficult than trying to make up an excuse as to why Iwaizumi needed a royal permit to inspect the hunt warehouse. He sighed. With a resigned demeanor, he decided to abandon his search for the master of ceremonies and make his way to the crown prince’s chambers before the servants were to start the preparations for the ceremony. He was running with so little time already that if he caught Kageyama in the middle of a parade of members dressing him up, he knew he wouldn’t be able to speak what he needed with the prince.

Just when he was making his way through the corridor that housed the guest’s bedrooms he noticed a figure getting out of one of the Shiratorizawa’s retainers room. Just when he least expected it, right in front of him, stood Shirabu Kenjiro, in the flesh and sporting a grin that made Iwaizumi’s skin crawl. 

Like if being flipped by a switch, all his instincts were turned on and he could swear that he recognized the scent from that man. All his body screamed at him that the figure before him had something to do with this. He stomped towards the unsuspecting man who jumped out of his skin with a loud shriek when the knight's hand got a tight hold of his shoulder.

“Sir Iwaizumi?” The copper haired man asked as he turned in confusion, still panting and a little bit shaken by the surprise. “You scared me.”

“Did I now. I wonder if you have reasons to be scared about.” Iwaizumi’s straight face and challenging aura definitely did not get past the man.

Shirabu raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you were concentrated on preparing your speech for today’s ceremony and someone came silent assassin style on your back, I’m pretty sure you would be scared as well.” Shirabu lightly joked. “So, do you need me, or…?” He made it sound as he really didn’t want to talk with the knight. 

“You tell me.” Iwaizumi’s monotone voice argued back.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow, Sir Iwaizumi. Look… I’m really busy right now, with the ceremony being in a couple of hours and all.” Shirabu half turned, making clear that he was done with the conversation. “So… If you’ll excuse me.” Shirabu started walking away.

“Where is Oikawa?” 

Shirabu stopped in his tracks. He paused for a second before turning on his heels, sporting the face of innocence incarnate.

“I was told he was resting in his chamber. I heard he was really sick.” He smiled. “I thought you knew, sir Iwaizumi. Being his personal knight and all.” 

“Cut the crap. Shirabu. What did you do?” Iwaizumi just _knew_ the man was behind it. His demeanor, his satirical tone, his cocky stance, everything screamed that he was at least somewhat involved in it. He felt it so deep in his bones that all his body was shaking with the assumption. He was now certain that he recognized the man's smell from one of the scents he had picked up on Oikawa’s room. It had been mild, but still there. 

“I don’t know what you are accusing me of Iwaizumi.” He had stopped smiling. He placed one hand on his hip and tipped back his head a little. His whole body language begging for Iwaizumi to lose it.

Iwaizumi knew he was not getting anywhere. He decided to try a different approach. If he couldn’t get Shirabu to say anything that would put him in a compromising situation, he could at least try to get information. 

“What were you doing in Sir Kawanishi’s bedroom?” 

“What I do in my personal time has nothing to do with you.”

“It does when I suspect possible treason to the crown. For all I know you may have slipped vital information to the representatives of another country with the intent of harming the kingdom.” 

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“Do I?” Hajime had gotten closer to the other man, his stance and pheromones thick with animosity and threat. He narrowed his eyes as he sized the man up. A small smile appeared on his lips as he thought of a third option. Shirabu was trying hard not to submit to the Alpha’s intense aura.

“Then…” Iwaizumi started. “If you haven’t done anything to be suspicious about, you wouldn’t mind giving me permission for a final check on the hunt warehouse, would you? I want to see with my own eyes that the selection of Omegas for the crown prince’s first hunt is up to the throne’s standards.” 

Shirabu remained quiet. Iwaizumi could see the cogs in his mind working fast, trying to come up with a reason as to why he couldn’t do it, a way to get himself out of the situation. 

_Got you_. Iwaizumi smirked.

For all the knight’s cockiness, he didn’t expect the next reaction of the master of ceremonies. Shirabu closed his eyes and his shoulders started shaking and then he bursted out in laughter.

“My, my… I knew you were going to catch on, but honestly, I thought I had till the end of the ceremony.” Shirabu returned to his smug stance. “I’m afraid there is nothing you can do my dear knight. I do not plan on helping you with your little crusade and tomorrow morning the little prince will be in the place where he was always meant to be.” Shirabu’s tone was condescendent showing that he wasn’t even concerned about being found out. In his mind, he had already won.

“And where would that be?” Iwaizumi threatened.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He laughed. “Under an Alpha’s foot.”

Iwaizumi roared. Filled with fury, he grabbed the other man’s collar in a rage fit and slammed him against the wall. He bared his fangs and snarled loudly at the Beta. Shirabu’s wind was knocked out of him and he had to grab hold of Iwaizumi’s arms so as to not get choked. 

Shirabu tsked loudly, trying not to show how afraid he really was at the moment. “You Alphas are all so predictable, baring your fangs for whenever things don’t go your way.” He grunted as Iwaizumi pressed him harder against the wall. “Are you angry because I took your toy? Is that what this is really all about?” Shirabu let out with a strained voice, before the knight threw him forcefully to the ground. The Beta landed with an oomph and skidded through the floor before standing up with visible effort. “I thought that you as an _Alpha_ wouldn’t let an Omega tell you what to do. Where is your pride? You should bare your fangs and show your status with dignity. Or are you so whipped by that sly slut that you would put everything aside for just a good fu-” He was cut when a punch sent him to the ground again. 

“Don’t you dare say anything else. If you speak one more word I’ll crush more than your nose.” The growl coming from the knight forced the beta to remain still. He looked back at the Alpha with a swollen cheek and blood smeared all over from when he had touched his face to assess the damage.

“Now you’ve done it Iwaizumi.” The copperhead got up once again, using the wall to help him as he rose up, a crooked smile from the pain across his face. “I’ll report you to General Ukai and you can kiss goodbye to your knighthood.” And with a broken nose and dripping blood through the halls, Shirabu Kenjiro made his exit, while Iwaizumi clenched and unclenched his hand as he slowly slid down the wall, adrenaline and ideas fueling his mind. He had to get to Daichi and the others. If they weren't able to take Tooru before the festival started… They would need to infiltrate the hunt. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


“You did WHAT?!” The three other voices echoed in the small room.

“I broke his nose with a punch.” Iwaizumi blatantly repeated. He showed no remorse or shame about his behaviour, in his book, the other motherfucker had earned it.

“So that was what Master Ukai was so furious about. Hajime, this is serious, you might be kicked out.” Matsukawa replied nervously. 

“I know, but that is not the point.” The knight replied. Besides, if there was no Tooru to protect, why was he a knight in the first place. He wouldn’t tell the others that though, it was an idea that had come so suddenly and with such implications that he wasn’t ready to admit them out loud. 

“I wonder what his motivation is though.” Daichi pondered. 

“Well, he is a piece of shit Beta who apparently is too pissed about not being an Alpha like his daddy wanted.” Matsukawa said. “Maybe he wanted to feel powerful for once?”

“No… Actually, I think he may be in cahoots with Shiratorizawa.” Iwaizumi rested his hand on his chin as an idea came over. “He was coming out of the room of one of their retainers and he has tight connections with the country.” 

“Maybe he is trying to earn a spot in their hierarchy despite not being an Alpha? Word is that they are really narrow minded about that.” Hanamaki stepped in. “To betray his own prince and country for a higher position in the neighboring one…” He clicked his tongue offended.

“Rumors say that he is half and half though. Mom from Shiratorizawa, Dad from Karasuno.” Matsukawa was trying to remember what else he had heard about the man. “He doesn’t get along very well with his father, but the old man’s ideals have stuck with him. Alpha supremacy and all.” He shook his head.

“Independently of his motives, the fact remains that we need to infiltrate the hunt somehow. We’ll have to track the prince down and take him out before other Alphas found out about him.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Daichi asked.

“I’m not doing it. You will.” He said crossing his arms. And before the other three started demanding more information, he got closer to them and laid out his plan. “Due to recent events, we won’t be able to enlist as participants of the hunt, Shirabu would grow suspicious and may try to compromise our mission, but if you, as the crown prince's personal guard, were to offer your services as his chaperon for today’s event , nobody would be suspicious of your request.” The other three hummed in acknowledgement. “That will give us access to the tokens given to Kageyama tonight and in turn, to Oikawa’s scent.”

“That’s… actually not a bad plan Iwaizumi!” Hanamaki teased. “Look at you! Apparently all those strategy meetings with the prince actually were useful!” Iwaizumi smacked his head in reply. “But how do you plan on recognizing which scent is from the prince?” He asked as he rubbed his head in the place where he had been hit.

“I think I’ll be able to recognize it. I … have smelt it before.” The tiniest blush came across his face. All the other members in the room decided to ignore it.

“Okay, let’s go. The ceremony should be starting in a couple of minutes.” Daichi said. “I’ll meet you at the rear entrance and slip you in somehow.”

They nodded in unison and retreated to their positions. First things first. They would need to get their hands on the prince’s scent and then hide in the forest before the actual hunt started if they wanted to avoid suspicions. Daichi would join Iwaizumi later, after the Royals had started the hunt with provisions and supplies in case the other had not been able to pinpoint the prince’s location yet. Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s role would be one of surveillance. They would tread on the heels of the other Royals in hopes of stopping any attempt made on the prince. The four of them really hoped they would be able to make it in time. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


Kageyama had been surprised by the captain’s sudden interest in accompanying him to the event. He didn't mind at first, but now he was actually glad that the older and calmer Alpha was with him. He had to admit that he was expecting to see his brother in the ceremony so he would be able to face him and talk and later he would ask him all the hows and the do’s and don'ts of social etiquette that were driving him crazy, but the captain was managing fairly well with his instructions, so he couldn’t complain much. He was just hurting from the apparent avoidance that his brother was set on.

“Like this then?” Kageyama asked Daichi, rising his glass with enough poise to be deemed as royal worthy.

“Yes, your highness, you are doing fine.” The captain smiled at the awkward one that crossed Kageyama’s lips. “I’m glad you are having fun. I was worried that you would find all this boring.” Daichi chuckled, earning a glare from the young prince.

“It’s not boring. I’m just not good at it, that’s why I prefer not to participate in these types of events.” He rebutted.

“Well, if you don’t participate in them, then you won’t get better at them, your highness. It’s just a matter of practice.” He said fondly.

To his surprise, Kageyama just nodded silently. He couldn’t pinpoint when exactly, but apparently the young prince had started to make changes regarding his attitude. He could feel that he was being less demanding and trying to take in the advice of other people. He couldn’t help the proud feeling burning in his chest. Having taken care of him since the prince was very young, Daichi thought of him as a little brother of sorts. 

Daichi was still looking at him fondly, when suddenly the music became livelier and louder. The chattering stopped and the guests started to swarm towards the center of the room leaving a gap where the participants would take their place. Daichi elbowed Kageyama who remembered that he was actually supposed to walk to his designated spot. The other Alphas followed his cue, lining up nicely one next to the other, making Ushijima the last member of the roster to step up on the farthest right. His face was stoic as ever.

After the line up came the introductions, all presented by a now recovered Shirabu Kenjiro. Apparently his nose still hurt and there were traces of a paste of sorts under his left eye, disguising his otherwise, very bruised features. The Beta gave a speech focusing on how Alphas were meant to serve and reign and how they were the pillars of society. How this festival was a gift to them and how they should enjoy themselves as their ancestors did before them. Daichi couldn’t help but think of Matsukawa’s words on the man’s desires to be an Alpha, how he seemed entranced by their power and status. He noticed how the man side-glanced at Ushijima, a gesture he would have probably missed if he hadn’t been observing him so attentively. 

After the speech, the man produced a beautiful wooden carved box with five silk handkerchiefs inside. He opened it and showed it to the guests in a grandiose gesture before giving one to each of the participants. His eyes seemed to be focused on Shiratorizawa’s crown prince particularly. The man looked back at him and made an attempt to open his box, only for Shirabu to discreetly gesture at him to wait. He then turned to the mass of guests and expectators and bowed. 

“As the representative of Karasuno’s festival committee and master of ceremonies, I thank you all for coming. I hope that you enjoy this year’s festival and all the surprises it may bring us! For a successful and enjoyable hunt, I invite you to raise your glass!” He lifted his own cup in the air and the rest of the room followed suit. “Now, let the games begin!” He toasted and the rest of the room cheered loudly.

Daichi used the distraction to make his way to the door in the back, he convinced the guard that he could take his post if he wanted to make a trip to relieve himself and quickly shoved Iwaizumi into the room. Once the grateful guard returned Daichi made his way towards the knight’s hiding spot.

“I think we are being deceived.” He said to Iwaizumi. “There are only five handkerchiefs in the boxes and we bought five Omegas. I doubt the prince’s will be one of them”

“No. There must be something we are not seeing here.” Iwaizumi rebutted. “Are all boxes the same?”

“By the look of it yes. We would have to check all of the boxes to make sure though.” 

“We don’t have the time for that! It would be too risky as well…” Iwaizumi grunted. They needed some kind of confirmation.

“What if… what if our hunch is right and he is working with Shiratorizawa?”

“Then, It’s possible that he would have given a different box to the crown prince.”

“The only one with Oikawa’s scent in it.”

It made sense. It was a risk, but they would have to take it. Just a sniff, a way to remember that sweet smell he had smelt so many years ago. He was sure he wasn’t going to be able to ever forget it, but he needed to make sure. He wasn’t going to leave anything as important as the fate of his best friend to the baseless assumption that his memory was as good as he claimed to be. 

“Okay, you go back to Kageyama, try to make him engage in a conversation with Shiratorizawa’s prince. I’ll try to get close enough to get to the box.”

Both men nodded before parting. Daichi felt bad for having to break Kageyama’s happy concentrated face while he clutched the box with a dorky grin, but sacrifices had to be made.

“Your highness.” He said as he got to his side. “I think it would be wise if you were to mingle with the other Royals. Discuss strategies and whatnot. Maybe see if you share tastes on the scents given.” 

Kageyama flinched at the idea of other people liking what he had started to think of as _his_ little handkerchief. He immediately caught sight of Ushijima, and decided to make his way to him. Daichi only followed knowing that both of them would probably need help making a conversation.

Iwaizumi, on the other hand, made his way towards the trio, eyes focused on the wooden box held tightly by the olive haired Alpha. He didn’t need to get as close as he had previously intended, as the wave of a very nostalgic smell came to stop him on his tracks. 

_Tooru_.

A soft growl escaped his throat and reverberated in his chest. His suspicions had been correct. The Beta had given Oikawa’s handkerchief to Ushijima. And what was worse… It had been the _only_ scent to come out of the box, meaning that the Alpha from Shiratorizawa, known for his strength, endurance and abilities that spoke for themselves was going to be on the prowl for only one target. The Karasuno prince, Oikawa Tooru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know… Kind of an IwaOi heavy chapter, but we needed to see the man’s reaction!! I promise that the next ones to come will be more focused on our sunny boy and lovable smile.
> 
> AUGH! This was a long chapter! I thought at first I wasn’t going to have enough notes to make it to 6000 words, and then I couldn’t stop the events from happening. I actually thought of cutting the chapter, but I reaaaaally want to get to the hunt already!! To think that originally the hunt started like at chapter 3 hahahahahaha! Yeah…. Just ignore the chapter count for now… I don’t even know how many there are going to be at this point.
> 
> See ya on the next one!
> 
> Next chapter: Let the games begin!


	6. Let the games begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You people are the best! I can’t stress enough how your comments affect me! Every time you post it makes me cry out of happiness! Thank you to all those who take the time to comment! And a proper thank you to all of those who are just enjoying the ride!! 
> 
> I hope this chapter is up to your standards! I’m really anxious to hear your thoughts! 
> 
> As always, a massive, MASSIVE thank you to CShirSalad. I can’t … I don’t have the words to thank you properly for all your help and dedication in your notes! I’m speechless, really! I love you!!

By the time the servants knocked on the wooden doors of his bedroom, Kageyama had already been up for hours. He was excited; all the friendly rivalry and mingling from last night having done no favors to help him fall asleep. Apparently, he had been too over confident and honest about his enthusiasm towards the festival. He blamed Daichi for not supervising his alcohol intake.

He let himself be bathed and changed, zoning out and replying with bare monosyllabic answers to all the gossiping and questions from the enthusiastic servants. He was thinking about the little box in his night table, stealing glances here and there thinking about the implications the festival would have. 

By the end of the week he would have a mate, someone who would be _his_. It wasn’t that he was anxious about a bond or a mate. Actually, he couldn’t care less about it. What he was excited about, was the prospect of someone who wouldn’t leave him alone again. Someone who’s back wouldn’t be turned on him, a partner who finally would make him feel needed and wanted. Someone with whom he would be able to start over.

It had taken him Oikawa’s avoidance, Tsukishima’s scolding and Ushijima’s sharp words, but the hard head of Kageyama had finally come to the sudden revelation that what had him feeling constantly angry about the world and in the need to isolate himself from it, was the dreading feeling of distrust and betrayal. 

It had started when his brother and Iwaizumi suddenly cut ties with him without apparent reason, but it got worse when servants and nobility started to treat him with the utmost care, hiding behind fake smiles in the hope of earning favors, like if treating the child like a normal kid would cause any kind of outburst from the boy. This made him unable to connect or trust his people, and after losing his only real bond after the death of his mother, he found out that isolating himself from everyone made the pain go away, the stares stop and the words whispered at his back fade into nothingness. 

He started ignoring everything and everyone, focusing on his skills and studies, he didn’t need to be social or to listen to other people’s advice to rule a kingdom, that was other people’s job. He just needed himself and his own head to sport the crown and sit on the throne. Nothing and no one else.

He spent so many years within the same routine. The same fake people, the same painful feelings and the same consuming _loneliness,_ that when he was stricken with _something new_ , something excitingly different, he couldn’t help but throw himself completely at the idea of change. It came as a refreshing scent that stood from the crowd, that screamed at him in acknowledgement, that made his body react in ways he couldn’t comprehend. More than the words from Ushijima or Tsukishima, more than his quarrels with his brother and more than the fear of actually being a king, it was the promise of not being alone anymore that made him crave the change. He smiled at the box. At the silk handkerchief. _His handkerchief._ He was excited.

After the servants finished, he dashed to the main hall for breakfast. Part of him still wanted to meet his brother, he assumed that he would be eating with his knight. As Oikawa had been absent from the festivities all day yesterday, he hoped that at least he would be willing to spare a minute for Tobio for a last motivational speech or something. He wanted to make amends. He still wasn’t sure what had happened between them two, but it was time to move past it. 

He frowned when he noticed the hall particularly empty. He felt stabbed later, when Tsukishima came to pick him up for the final preparations for the hunt and Oikawa still hadn’t made an appearance. He couldn’t piece what he had done so wrong _now_ for Oikawa to completely shut him out like that. 

As he made his way out of the castle, he decided that he wouldn’t think anymore about his brother’s childish behaviour. That if Oikawa wanted to be a petty brat, then Kageyama would be the adult and actually have fun in his hunt, he would get to meet his Omega and would show Oikawa that he was a much better hunter than the brunette ever hoped to be. Yes, he would be shoving all the fun he was going to have onto Oikawa later, in a completely mature and totally healthy way. He thought this as he closed the door of the carriage that would take him to the Hunting Grounds. 

He opened his box as they started to move, giving a little smile at the contents before closing it again. But very soon the excitement was giving way to nervousness to finally set on a tightened stomach as the greenery of the Hunting Grounds came into view. He could see some of the other Royals preparing their horses already, which made him feel a little conscious about arriving later than the others. Once the carriage stopped, he made his way as fast as it was deemed prudent before it being considered a run.

“Look who finally decided to join us ‘Samu!” The blond prince from Inarizaki teased. “And I thought you were going to be the first one here with how much you _wanted_ for it to start.” Atsumu narrowed his eyes mockingly, that toothy grin showing its true intentions. 

Kageyama, always honest, blushed a bit at the teasing.

“‘Tsumu, leave the prince alone and get your horse ready.” Osamu barked. “I’m leaving you if you are not ready by the time the horn blows.”

Kageyama bowed his head and left towards his own horse. The black stallion was already prepped and ready for the hunt to begin. He made a curt nod towards Ushijima and Daishou, both Alphas already sitting on their horses and waiting for the blowing of the horn that would signal the start of the hunt. The twins looked at the retreating prince before Osamu sighed when spotting the smirk on the blond’s face.

“Would you stop trying to rile the prince up?” He asked. “And take that stupid grin off your face, I know exactly what you are thinking.”

“Oh Come on ‘Samu!” The blond whined. “Aren’t you a _little_ intrigued about the earnest enthusiasm of the prince for the hunt?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s just because it's his first one. Of course he is excited.” The other one reasoned.

The blond chortled. “Maybe. But maybe I want to see with my own eyes what’s gotten the prince so eager. He _is_ the crown prince, afterall, I bet his toys are the most interesting ones.” He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

As the blond finished his sentence, they mounted their horses and trot their way to the others, they didn’t have to wait long for the sound of a horn to blast loudly, scaring the nearby wildlife and making the crowd of gathered spectators roar in cheers for the hunters. 

Daishou smiled at the crowd and waved while the Inarizaki princes teased the spectators with winks and devilish smiles. Kageyama tried too, only to be too embarrassed to do it properly and Ushijima just motioned with his hand. With their greetings done and the congregation pleased, the Alphas kicked their horses and galloped into the forest. The games had officially begun.

  
  


\-----

  
  


The bright morning rays of the sun shone directly into Hinata’s eyes, making him scrunch his nose at the idea of waking up. His body hurt, like if he had been sleeping on the ground and in a weird position. He turned to his side hearing crunchy noises accompanying his movements and felt damped cloth in the spots he had been previously laid down. He shot his eyes open. All around him, the padded tatami walls and floors from the warehouse had been replaced by trees, slopes, small hills, fallen tree trunks and muddy leaves showered with morning dew. He tried to remember what had happened. _When had he been brought to the Hunting Grounds?_ But a more pressing matter was shoved to the front of his mind. He gasped.

“Suga-san! Oikawa-san!” He called into the open forest only for a perched crow to fly away from the noise cawing loudly.

He frantically looked around for his cell mates, but there were no traces of either one of them. He stood quickly and tried to remember anything that could give him clues. Why hadn’t he fought back? Had he missed the first opportunity to break free already? Knowing these people, they wouldn’t even have let him know they were being moved in the first place. 

That’s when a thought came to his mind. How suspiciously good and irresistible last night’s meal had been and how drowsy he had gotten by the end of it. Maybe it hadn’t been the exhaustion and anxiousness about the hunt after all, but actually _something else_. The answer as to why he hadn’t felt his body being lifted and moved from the warehouse to the forest and the reason as to why he hadn’t fought back when they had been obviously scattered without a clue as to where the others were. He had to find the others and fast. Now that not only his freedom was at risk, but the promise of freedom for all Omegas, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

He tried to remember Saeko’s list of priorities. Getting rid of his scent should be number one, followed closely only by finding a water source, he could only hope the others would follow that order as well. He bit his lip out of frustration, he should be moving by now, every minute was precious, every inch he could get ahead of the men who were about to track him was priceless. 

Suddenly a loud horn blared in the distance and his mind went numb. The hunt had started and he still was in the same spot he had woken up. His breath became erratic and the anxiety was paralyzing him. He felt as if all his senses had been muffled by cotton.

_Move_.

His legs were stuck in place, they felt like lead, unmovable, not willing to bend to his will. His Omega instincts were demanding him to wait, to be found, not to resist. They were begging him to lure the Alphas to where he was standing, to make him precious, valuable, _wanted_. With panic, he started to realize how his scent was becoming stronger, how his body was following his inner instincts rather than his will to escape.

_No! Stop that! Move!_

He shouted the words in his mind as he raised his hands and smacked them hard against his cheeks. He winced at the pain, but felt the relief of regaining some control of his body. He didn’t think where to go or what he was supposed to do, he just sprinted towards the only place he thought it was safe; the opposite direction from the sound of the horn.

In his panicked state, he dashed through the forest without a sense of direction or knowledge of how far the Alphas were from him. He tried to sniff the air in an attempt of gaining some sense of his surroundings, but with his erratic panting and muted senses, everything smelt the same. The musty air, the pine trees, the animal droppings. Everything mixed with each other and soon enough he wasn’t even sure how much time had passed, where he had come from or where he was running towards. He needed to stop and think before the dizziness would make him sick.

Feeling the bile already threatening his way up his throat. He jumped over a decaying tree trunk and rushed past a shrubbery looking for some kind of shelter when the sudden apparition of two figures stopped him dead in his tracks. He was unable to stop himself and ended up crashing against one of the two men before he could even realize the smell coming from them that clearly signalled their Alpha status. He fell on his back and gasped loudly from the fear when the strong smell hit his nose. With dread pulsing in his veins he looked up to see two Alphas sporting an amused look on their faces. One had spiky brown hair and stern green eyes, while the other’s face came as reassuring but intimidating with equally brown hair but dark brown eyes. 

“Are you okay?” The dark-brown eyed Alpha asked.

Hinata could not muster the bravery to reply, his mind too jumbled still. He just covered his face with his arms when the man got closer and stretched his hand towards Hinata. He almost shrieked when he felt the hand of the man around his wrist, but the panic and the dizziness from before made him silent, even when the man pushed him to stand up, lowering his body so they were face to face.

“It’s okay, don’t be afraid kid. We are not here to hunt you down.” The man spoke again. He had a soft but commanding voice. Hinata just blinked at him, not understanding what was happening.

“I think he hit his head or something.” The other, the green-eyed one, spoke. “Let’s move Sawamura, we can’t lose time, the hunt is already on its way and we must not be seen.” The man who had lowered himself stood once again after nodding to the man speaking, looking kind of guilty? Hinata wasn’t able to figure out the face of the man. “Besides, this one’s scent is reeking heavily, it's a matter of minutes before he gets tracked down. We can’t be near or we will be spotted.”

“What?!” Hinata squawked. He sniffed his arm trying to see if he could smell it.

The reaction let out a chuckle from the brown-eyed man. “Here, let me help you.” He rubbed his wrist together before stroking it against Hinata’s cheek and hair. The orange boy flinched at the touch until he understood that the other man was scenting him to diminish the smell coming from the Omega. Hinata blushed at the gesture.

“Thank you… Uh… Sir.” He said turning red.

“Daichi.” The man said as he stood up again, a soft laugh in his lips. “And this grumpy one is Iwaizumi.” Hinata cocked his head, puzzled as to why the Alphas were introducing themselves and helping him. That… that was not what was supposed to happen, but it certainly had helped him in shaking off his daze. “Now, we have to leave, but be careful.” The Alpha smiled fondly before taking something from his pouch and offered it to Hinata. “And good luck.” He added with a more serious and guilty look.

“Uh… Yes! Um… Thank you Daichi-san! Iwaizumi-San!” He bowed his head effusively, Saeko’s image came to his mind. Maybe not all Alphas were as bad as he thought they were. He had just been really unlucky to meet most of the ones that were. 

“See Iwaizumi? This way we can help the others while we track Oikawa down.” Daichi said as Hinata took the little pouch the Alpha had offered and sputtered at the mentioning of Oikawa’s name. Daichi flinched at the reaction and stopped, cocking one eyebrow, his full attention on the smaller man. “Everything all right there, shorty?” 

“It depends.” Hinata’s stance became serious. His voice had lowered with the inflexion of the threat. “What’s your business with Oikawa-san?” 

“You know Oikawa?” This time it was Iwaizumi the one speaking. He got closer to Hinata, his aura demanding answers. “Do you know where he is?” His voice came as pleading as it sounded threatening. “Tell me what you know.”

“First you tell me why you wanna know. Two Alphas looking specifically for the prince is a little suspicious, if you ask me.” Hinata replied back, crossing his arms and tilting his head back. The large brown eyes of the Omega suddenly sharp and vicious, a complete contrast to his previous helpless demeanor. “Even if you aren’t with the hunt, I can’t trust you. I swore to protect him and I’ll keep my word!” He stood in a defensive stance, still clutching the pouch but ready to sprint away if needed.

“So did I, kid!” The Alpha challenged back. “I’m his knight and we came here to rescue him. We need to find him before the others do and we are losing precious time talking with you, so, if you have any information you can give us, speak! Otherwise, scram!” Iwaizumi barked as he got closer to Hinata, his apprehension making it impossible to rein in his anger and tone.

Hinata was conflicted. The Alpha seemed to be actually genuine, he was scared, angry and sad, if he was faking it, he was doing a damn good job at it. On the other hand though, the fact that Alphas were looking for Oikawa just begged to be questioned. 

“Ok. I decided to trust you”. The Omega said after a couple of seconds. Both Alphas perked up at that. “That said… I really don’t know where Oikawa is at the moment, though.” Iwaizumi groaned at the evident waste of time. “We were separated before being brought here, I’m also looking for him as I swore to help him escape, so maybe I can help you track him down?” Hinata offered with a sheepish smile.

“Thanks for the offer, kid, but your scent is going to be a deterrent to our plan. So…” Daichi stretched the vowel while scratching the back of his head trying to find subtle enough words that would explain that it wasn’t that they didn’t _want_ the help or to help Hinata out, but that letting the Omega join them would make this whole secret mission way more difficult than it already was.

“That’s it!” Hinata said loudly, banging one fist against the palm of his other hand. “If Oikawa remembers what we told him yesterday, he should be on the lookout for plants to suppress his scent.” He grinned brightly. “That is your best bet.”

“So instead of looking for his scent, we should be looking for the smell of plants on the move?” Iwaizumi questioned the Omega. 

“And a river!” Hinata added happily. “A water source is survival’s top priority”

Daichi and Iwaizumi exchanged looks. This hadn’t been a complete waste of time after all, now they knew where to start looking and a possible lead as to why they hadn’t been able to pinpoint the direction of Tooru’s scent. 

“Thanks kid!” Daichi smiled at the ginger, ruffling his head fondly.

“Hinata!” The Omega replied with the biggest and most blinding smile Daichi had seen. “My name is Hinata Shouyo!”

As they shook hands with the Omega, the three men jolted at the sudden distant sound of hooves racing their way.

“Shit!” Iwaizumi cursed between teeth. “Quick, we can’t be seen.” 

“I’ll distract them!” Hinata grabbed the forearm of the knight, stopping him immediately. “You run in the opposite direction. Stay hidden and use the herbs to disguise your scent. You may not smell like an Omega, but you don’t smell like the forest either!” He grabbed both hands of Iwaizumi in a pleading way. “Please find Oikawa-san and get him out of here! I leave it in your hands!” And with that he dashed away.

Hinata sprinted towards the forest once more, releasing a bit of his scent to lure the Royals on the prowl away from the knights who were still dumbfounded by the selfless actions of the Omega. They had been so worried about how they were going to be able to remain hidden and protect the little man, that when said man sprinted away from them, in order to protect _them_ , they had to forcefully blink to shake off the numbness they had been left with.

“He… Did he…?” Iwaizumi started, but Daichi’s tight grab on his forearm begging for him to move, made him shut up and follow the other Alpha in a quick pace. They wouldn’t let the sacrifice of the ginger-man go to waste. Now, with more resolution than ever, they vowed to find Oikawa.

Hinata ran as fast as he could, hearing the excited yelps of the Alphas and the resonating hooves of the horses only making his limbs move faster. He guessed that the ones galloping in his direction might have been at least two people as he could hear a different range in the tone of the voices. 

_They hunt in groups?!_ He squawked internally. If running from one man was difficult, escaping from a hunting group would prove to be a challenge at the least. 

He needed to make some distance from Daichi and Iwaizumi first, to give them the time they needed to hide themselves before attempting to make himself disappear. He did stop releasing his scent though, he didn’t want to signal anymore Alphas than he could handle. 

He ended up reaching a clearing in the woods. From there, he could see that the sun was up to announce that it was probably noon by now. When had he woken up? How much time had he been on the run already? He couldn’t think of those things right now. He needed to find a way to lose the men on his tail. He got quiet and tried to focus on his surroundings. After his fateful meeting with the Alphas, all the numbness of his mind and senses had finally subsided and he felt in full control of his body once again. He already had elevated senses due to his Omegan status, but here, on the run, being chased by unknown Alphas, all his instincts had made them even more acute. 

_Guessing by the noise and smells of the horses, give or take, around six minutes._ He calculated.

He rubbed his wrists against each other and ran towards the clearing. He stroked the tree trunks as he ran in an eastern direction. He picked a pine cone and did the same, only to throw it with all his strengths deeper into the woods in the same direction, leaving an effective fake trail for the Alphas to lose themselves into as he tried to suppress his smell and ran in the opposite direction of the clearing. 

He kept on running, trying to be as light as he possibly could, avoiding the areas that would make more noise, hoping that Daichi’s smell was enough to camouflage his scent while the other Alphas went on to follow his fake one. He sighed with relief when he heard the hooves of the horses pass him by in the opposite direction, with no signs of stopping by his area. He wasn’t close enough to see them or hear their voices, but that had never been his intention. He just kept on running until he couldn’t hear the hooves anymore.

After running for what felt like forever, Hinata finally caught his breath as he rested his back on the trunk of a massive pine tree. The only thought in his head was the one of gratitude for Daichi's scenting right now, the Alpha’s scent had effectively helped in losing his predators, but its effect was starting to wear off and right now, he didn’t have the luxury to dwell on his tired limbs nor his thoughts of gratitude about his previous encounter.

He was happy, though. To learn that they weren’t alone in this. That there were still people willing to put themselves at risk for people like him. He smiled as he remembered the pouch, laying still on his lap. This was the first moment of respite, since their encounter, for him to actually open it and check the contents. His smile got bright and huge as he saw a piece of bread, a banana, some dried meat and cheese. He also noticed a small leather flask and picked it up hearing with delight the sound of liquid inside. He squealed out of happiness, all his tiredness and dry throat being soothed by the glorious water from the flask. He almost chugged it all at once, before remembering that he was going to be stuck for a while in the forest, and rationing was a must. He made due with a bite of the bread combined with the dried meat and a chomp out of the cheese. Swallowing it all up, he put everything back on the pouch, strapped it to his waist and stood up, renewed strength and invigorating thoughts putting a light spring on his steps.

As he made his way through the woods at a leisurely pace, he started to acknowledge the different noises and smells coming from every direction. He couldn’t help the thought of how different and less ominous the forest felt now that he wasn’t panicking or hyperventilating after being surprised by how fast everything had happened. He breathed slowly, remembering that remaining calm and in control were the pillars of surviving this game. He just hoped Oikawa, Suga and the others were faring better than him.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Oikawa had had a rough awakening to say the least. After his paranoia and taut stomach made him skip dinner last night, he woke up at the sound of ruffling and moving of the people in the room. At first he had thought that it was Hinata, unable to remain still even in his slumber, but to his surprise, it had been an unknown person moving the orange-haired boy out of the room. That quickly got him into actionshaking desperately Sugawara awake as soon as the man left them alone in the room. The grey haired man sluggishly regained consciousness, clearly still half out with whatever the men had put on their food last night.

“Suga, Suga, they are moving us! Wake up!” Oikawa whispered to the other male.

“Uh.. wha? Whu?” He mumbled, unable to understand what was going on.

“They took Hinata. Quick, we have to make our move.” Oikawa went to the door of the padded room and tried to pry it open. Unsurprisingly, the door didn’t budge. “Why do they have to be so careful about everything?!” He whisper-shouted angrily as he banged the door with his fist. He let out a muffled angry scream before he turned to his companion to see that he had already gone back to sleep. “Ugh! Come on! Suga!” 

He made his way towards the other Omega and shook him desperately until he heard noises coming from the outside. He quickly threw himself to the ground and pretended to be asleep. He needed to think of a plan, a way to take out the man so they could get out of the warehouse. 

He heard the man kneeling on the floor to grab Sugawara. It was now or never. He waited for the man to start his ascent before throwing himself onto his back. He may have been weaker than the brute, but the surprise factor had effectively helped in gaining the upper hand. 

The man hollered and lost hold of the Omega on his arms, startling the grey haired man finally awake as he crashed against the floor.

“Wha-” Suga blinked at the scene before him, the grunts and struggling noises certainly taking his attention. “Oikawa?!” Sugawara took a second to acknowledge the prince’s face in distress as he tried to chokehold a very angry man who kept on clawing at the arms of the prince, trying ineffectively to shake him off.

“Don’t. Stay. there! Help. Me. Suga!!” Oikawa managed to get out in an array of very elaborated and loud groans as he clearly struggled overpowering the brute.

Suga looked around desperately for a weapon, something he could use to take down the man the man. He noticed the remainders of their dinner and grabbed the wooden tray they had provided the food with. He swung it back and slammed it hard on the man’s face. The man roared in pain, the hit effectively making him lose balance and made him fall on his side following the trajectory of the swing. Oikawa held on tighter as the tower of a man fell to the floor with him on top, the landing propelling the Omega forwards and onto the pad, forcing him to roll out of the way. 

Suga held on to the tray tightly, swinging it behind his head ready for a second hit; fearing the man would spring up anytime, while Oikawa acquired a defensive stance that showed years of discipline and training, only relaxing when the man’s unconscious form told them that he had been effectively knocked out.

Suga let out a shaky laugh. “That was nerve wracking!” He was still shaking out of excitement and fear. “I can’t believe I did that!” He said looking at the limp man, and after looking at Oikawa with wide shocked eyes, he added. “I can’t believe _you_ did that! What was that?!”

“I may be an Omega and a prince, but two things I took seriously were my sparring and self defense lessons.” Oikawa said smugly, releasing the tension from his body and trying to recover a more steady breathing. “Let’s go! We have to get out of here!” Oikawa said as he turned to the door.

“What about Hinata? And the others?” Suga asked, throwing away the tray and following Oikawa out of the door.

Oikawa felt a guilty thought coming to his mind. He needed to get out, find Iwaizumi and Kageyama before the hunt began, he wasn’t even sure what time it was or where they were. He only knew that the warehouse was near the Hunting Grounds, so they were still not safe even if they managed to get out of there. He didn’t have time to lose, but on the other hand, he just couldn’t just leave Hinata alone in there, trapped, awaiting to be hunted down like an animal, now, could he? He sighed as his own thoughts guilt tripped him. 

“Let’s get out of here first and see where we are.” He sighed, clearly conflicted. “Maybe the others haven't been moved yet. We may be able to get help before the hunt starts.” He said, hoping it was true. He didn’t want to be forced to make _that_ decision.

Fortunately for him, his decision making would have to wait, as when they ascended the stairs of the warehouse, they were greeted by the chilliness of dawn and the massive forest greenery surrounding them. He felt his heart drop at the exact moment his brain made the connection; the warehouse wasn’t _near_ the Hunting Grounds, it was in the middle of it.

_Of course!_ He cursed with a humorless laugh at his luck and naivete. Being in the middle of the forest gave them a strategic place to spread the Omegas in the least amount of time for them not to escape or wake up, and at the same time, it provided a way to still confine the Omegas that did escape to the Hunting Grounds.

The sound of approaching footprints made the Omegas jump and break out from their initial despair. Someone was coming and by the heavy sound of the boots, it definitely wasn’t Hinata.

“We have to move!” Suga grabbed Oikawa’s arm and tugged him to follow as he started running. 

“If they enter the warehouse they will notice the unconscious man…” Oikawa started ominously. “They will know that we escaped!” 

Oikawa didn’t want to dwell on that thought. Instead, they started to run faster, no time to look back or to reason, they just needed to make distance between themselves and the direction of the warehouse. If the house was indeed in the middle of the forest, just running in a straight line would take them out of the woods and out of danger. With that reasoning but with no way of knowing if they were _actually_ running in a straight line, they found themselves tired, hungry and frustrated sooner than they had expected.

“We are lost.” Suga sighed after they had stopped to catch their breaths. They may have been on the run for almost an hour.

“Of course we are lost!” Oikawa grumbled back. “We don’t know where the hell we are to begin with!”

“No, I mean, yeah, but like, where is the warehouse right now? We could have been running in circles for all we know.” The grey haired Omega reasoned, taking one hand to his chin.

“Suga… I really, _really_ hate you right now.” Oikawa pouted childishly. It wasn’t Suga’s fault, of course it wasn’t. If anything, Oikawa was so grateful to not be stranded in the middle of the forest alone with the prospect of being hunted down at any minute. But he was really tired and hungry and frustrated, and poor Suga was the only one near to direct his irritation towards.

“I think we need a plan. That’s all I’m saying.” Suga said, shrugging one shoulder and with a soft smile, trying to lift the mood. “We should start thinking about provisions and water.” Their stomachs growled at the mention of food. “And our scents! That should be our top priority!” 

“Right.” Oikawa sighed back, trying to release some of his irritation. “Ok. How do we get food?” He looked at the other with a questioning look.

Suga blinked in confusion. He stared at Oikawa as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head or something.

“Wait. Are you asking _me_?” The grey haired Omega asked.

“Who else?” Oikawa replied sassily.

“What part of me passing out from starvation gave you the idea that I _know_ how to actually get food?!” Suga squawked indignantly.

“We don’t need a plan.” Oikawa groaned as his pout grew. “We need Hinata.” 

Suga’s almost rebuttal was cut short when a loud horn blared out in the distance. They were frozen in place, dread seeping in their necks making their hairs stand on end. Both Omegas exchanged a panicked look. Their time was over. The hunt had begun. 

“Run!” Oikawa ordered as he stood up and grabbed the other man’s hand. Both Omega’s tiredness could wait, for now, they had to disappear. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


Kageyama was thrilled. He couldn’t remember a time when he felt this eagerness about something. It was as if his whole body was reacting to the scents of the forest, the energy that was being released and the pheromones in the air. He could feel his fangs tingling and nails sharpen as his inner Alpha was signaling to chase, to hunt, to take. He held his reins tighter as he kicked his horse for more speed. 

He was so absorbed by his excitement, that he hadn’t noticed that the Miya brothers were still accompanying him in his run, until both of them started to gain on him, keeping a steady rhythm by his side.

“Picked up something already?” Atsumu asked accompanied by his annoying grin.

Kageyama jolted at the voice. He had actually forgotten about the others. For a moment he felt like he was supposed to be the only one on the prowl. He suddenly remembered Daichi mentioning the importance of the event as some kind of social activity, or whatever. He groaned at the thought.

“Nothing yet.” He decided to reply. “What about you?”

“We’re just assessing the game.” Atsumu replied. “It would be boring if we caught one on the first day, wouldn’t it? Where is the fun in that?” He shrugged.

Kageyama couldn’t agree though. He wanted to catch his Omega, if it was on the first day, then, who cared? He couldn’t see the logic of waiting for it, especially if the other Alphas were hunting as well. 

Atsumu apparently caught onto the thoughts of the crown prince, and shook his head at him.

“Look, I know you are excited, but trust me.” He said fondly. “If you just rush head on and don’t enjoy the chase, then there is no point for the whole festival. You have a whole week. Enjoy the ride.” His words seemed sincere, so Kageyama wanted to believe they held some kind of truth, but on the other hand, he _really_ wanted to capture his prey. He decided to just nod instead and ignore the advice completely. If he were to meet the Omega, there was no point in letting him go. He wanted to win.

The blond seemed satisfied enough and looked at his brother before nodding back at Kageyama. With a holler to his horse, both Inarizaki princes took the lead and turned left, leaving Kageyama alone with his thoughts once more. 

_Enjoy it? But I_ am _enjoying it._ He mulled as he pulled the reins of his horse to go in the opposite direction from the twins.

He decided to stop after a very frustrated morning. He hadn't made any progress on picking up the scent that matched the one from his handkerchief. He was growing restless, patience had never been his forte. He hopped off his horse to stretch his legs and flex his sore muscles. He was in the middle of a stretch when he gazed to the sky, the unrelenting sun making him feel thirsty and sweaty. He went to pick up the canteen with water from the horse’s saddle bags when he heard some hollering and galloping at the far off distance. _Must be the twins_ , he thought as he quenched his thirst. He decided to pay them no attention. He was about to put the water back in the saddle, when the lightest citric scent caught his attention.

It was like he had been set on fire. All his muscles tensed up, his Alpha roared to life, elongating his fangs and flaring his nostrils. The Omega was close.

He didn’t get on the horse, if he was close, the stomping of the hooves would only scare him away, besides, something about running after him felt much more _right_ in his mind. He started to follow the scent and noticed how it wasn’t as strong or distinct as he remembered it from the handkerchief. It was as if it had been mixed with something. A tiny doubt about the scent _actually_ belonging to his prey made him want to look for the box, but he quickly shook it away. He knew he was right, he was getting closer, his body could feel it.

Lurking in the shadow of the trees, getting closer as the scent became stronger, he heard it; the crushing of leaves under moving feet and the yanking of shrubbery. His heart stopped in anticipation, all his senses in overdrive as his hands tweaked in eagerness. He could see glimpses of orange and pale skin, moving diligently and in quick fashion. He had found him.

With all the lightweightness he could muster, trying not to make a single twig crunch under the sole of his boots, he got as close as he could to the source of the noise. He crouched behind a rock tall enough so he could remain hidden, and for the first time took in the full figure in front of him. 

The Omega was crouching in front of some sort of vegetation, plucking out flowers and leaves. He seemed focused on what he was doing, precise movements and coordination as he stashed them in a pouch by his waist. He was not facing Kageyama, so the Alpha let his gaze wander on the other man’s slender arms, skin looking pale and soft. Even in his position, the man seemed short, something that Kageyama thought as nice, he wouldn’t want the Omega to be taller than him, it would have hurt his image. But what made him interested was the bright orange hair. It was wild, untamed and the lighting right now made it seem like it was on fire. 

Kageyama didn’t know what to think. He had imagined this encounter so many times but had never been able to put a face to the scent. He was conflicted, he was interesting but also much smaller than he had thought and he seemed so …. Defenseless. It would be so easy, he could just pounce right there and call it a day, so why was he feeling disappointed? 

He shifted his weight in his thought, the smallest sound of shuffling dirt under him, but that was all that it took. The man in front of him turned on his heels in half a second and there they were. The biggest brownest, most beautiful eyes the Alpha had ever seen. A pair of very angry, wide eyes that reflected the sun and made them shine with amber and gold speckles. A pair of eyes that held his gaze for barely a second, but the fire behind them left Kageyama with such an impression, that he barely reacted once the Omega sprinted away from his view. 

Between the speed at which the Omega took off and the still lingering pain caused by the absence of those eyes, it took Kageyama a couple of seconds to react, shuffling awkwardly in his spot before chasing after the Omega. The ginger may have been fast, but Kageyama’s legs were longer, in a matter of a couple of meters he was already gaining on him. He felt his heart on his throat, both from the excitement and the exercise. Blood rushed through his veins, he felt his Alpha shake violently within, overjoyed to be so in control for once. He felt free, he felt _right_.

So when the ginger ran towards the edge of a slope and bordered its fringe only to find himself cornered against a high sleek incline, he couldn’t help but feel the same conflicting feeling from before. He had effectively cornered his prey, but on the other hand, it had been too _easy_. 

He stopped at a distance from the Omega, who only now had turned to look at the prince. As if he was just now acknowledging that he was trapped. Kageyama sighed, still unable to put in words what he was feeling in those moments.

“I knew it was going to be easy, but… It was _too_ easy.” The Alpha said as he walked slowly towards the Omega. “I’m kind of disappointed, but you are an Omega-” he said gesturing vaguely at Hinata “-so… I think that is what was to be expected?” He voiced the last part as in a question, shrugging while he spoke at nobody in particular. It was more of a way to express his own frustration out loud, trying to put in words what he was feeling without actually trying to or noticing how he was starting to piss off a very evidently angry Omega in front of him.

“Oh yeah?” The Omega challenged back, gritting his teeth. “Well I don’t see your mark on me, so I believe you still haven’t caught me.” 

That made Kageyama stop. He didn’t expect a word from the other man. He thought the other would be accepting his defeat willingly and in submission by now. Like Omegas were _supposed to do_. The spunk attitude of the ginger was only confusing him more.

“You are trapped with nowhere to go!” He said growing frustrated as he began to stomp towards the Omega. “Don’t act so high and mighty and just accept your loss.”

“I won’t. Until I can no longer run, until I can no longer fight, I won’t accept that I have lost.” The piercing eyes that had felt like burning from the sun seconds ago, where now hard and razor sharp, a complete defiant stance against the prince. Kageyama’s Alpha almost roared back demanding the other’s submission at such a preposterous action. 

“You…” He growled loud and menacing. He glared at the Omega before noticing that the ginger had now a sly smile creeping on his face. He took his next step and as his foot started to slide through the now crumbling soil, he understood it. _It was a trap_. 

He couldn’t stop it. 

The barely concealed fissure he had stepped on collapsed under his weight sending the Alpha sliding down a scarp now forming between him and his prey. The fall that followed was scary and rough, but after what felt like forever, he managed to emerge from the rubble with a loud gasp, no major visible damage besides his ego.

He looked up, wide blue eyes in awe at the stunt pulled by the ginger, a scowl quickly taking its place when he noticed how the smirk on the Omega’s face made his blood boil.

“For such a huge head, you sure have small eyes.” The Omega chirped teasingly as he lowered his body to mock Kageyama. “The terrain is quite unpredictable in this area. You should learn to be more careful.” He finished with the most sarcastic grin the Alpha had seen, and he had Oikawa for a brother. 

Suddenly his demeanor changed and Kageyama felt a chill running down his spine. The ginger stood up and locked his glare at the Alpha’s eyes, sporting the same vicious cold and sharp stare again. “Omegas are not weak, Alpha. We’ll keep on fighting and running and resisting until we get our freedom back. We won’t lose.” He challenged, before turning away and effectively disappearing from his view.

If it had been luck, strategy or a plot set by the small man, Kageyama didn’t know. He only knew that the moment he no longer saw those burning brown eyes staring at him from above, a grin as wide as his face curved the lips of the Alpha. All the previous feelings were swept away by the nerve wrecking excitement that was coursing through his body.

“Didn’t I tell you ‘Samu?”

From above the flat top of the slope, having witnessed the exchange between hunter and prey, a pair of glistening eyes followed the movements of a small ginger Omega making his way back from where he had come.

“The prince does have the best toys.”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have our first encounter!!! I hope that you weren’t as Kags there and think that Hinata would go down so easily. Mwahahahaha! 
> 
> I had some difficulty threading the progression and making it seem like it happened at the same time, but I think it turned out well! Man, I’m getting nervous thinking on how to write the events that are to come! I hope you continue to enjoy the book!
> 
> Also... I had to lookup for the anatomy of slopes and hills because I was so confused as to what the names of the different things were, so I'm so sorry if that doesn't make sense....
> 
> See you in the next one! (I’m actually debating on the title, so no spoilers this time)


	7. The thrill of the hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an update!! I know, I know, I took a little longer than usual, but I’ve been in a weird headspace lately and couldn't muster the words nor the mood to sit down and finish the chapter. But finally, here it is!
> 
> First of all, thank you so, so, so much for all the comments, kudos, hits and encouraging words. You can’t imagine the effect that you had in me, especially this week. I’m pretty sure it was your lovely support, the one that made me come out of my own gloomy thoughts, so thank you! Thank you so, so much!
> 
> As always, infinite thanks to CShirSalad for the work behind those lovely notes and help! 
> 
> And seriously, I just wish for every aspiring author out there, that you could get such lovely and dedicated people to read your works. You guys are the reason I want to keep writing! I love you!! Thanks for being so awesome!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> \-------
> 
> Edit: I added some lines on the last character's dialogue, it's nothing major, but I forgot to add it at first.

The night of the first day came sooner than Hinata had expected. Thankfully, after the nerve wracking encounter with the blue eyed Alpha, the rest of the day had been quite uneventful; he had managed to stay away from the hunters thanks to his concealed scent and knowledge of track readings. But the day had also proven to be quite unsatisfactory. Besides the finding of fragrant enough plants, he hadn’t found a river or a pond or any water source for that matter, and what it was worse, any good progress he had made towards the outskirts of the woods, had been rendered fruitless when the scents of a nearby Alpha forced him to redirect his way for cover. 

_They are playing with you. Tiring you out. Don’t fall for their game._

He kept on repeating to himself, but he had to admit that the constant herding was starting to wear him down, both physically and mentally. The worst of it all was that they were still only on day one. He sighed loudly. He needed to rest.

Looking for some place to lay for the night, he found himself looking into the hollow interior of a dead tree trunk and analyzing if it really was the best idea to shelter himself in a cylindrical trap with no easy way out if he were to be discovered. On the other hand though, the tree had an already strong scent, with moss overflowing its sides, so that would help to disguise Hinata’s already camouflaged one. Without a trail, there would be no reason for the Alphas to actually look into the tree trunk in the first place. 

The chilly wind that blew on his back and made him shiver from the cold made the decision for him. He wasn’t counting on being able to have a restful sleep, but at least he would be able to repel the cold and rest his tired and aching limbs. With some effort, he climbed his way into the trunk, shifting some loose bark pieces for better coverage. 

Once satisfied with his impromptu shelter, he looked into his pouch and reached for the leather flask, it was nearly empty. The rest of his food didn’t fare any better. It seemed that it would last for tomorrow morning at best; even with his over cautious rationing it was just not enough. He was hungry and he would need the fuel to keep on running. He took another bite of the bread and sighed at how little it did to satisfy his hunger. 

He chuckled, remembering how he had _promised_ Oikawa that he would get him out of the forest. He had been so confident in his abilities, but would you look at him now; sitting on the bottom of a decaying tree, hungry, thirsty, exhausted and without a clue as to if he had even gotten closer to the edge of the woods. 

He frowned, remembering his close encounter with that blue-eyed Alpha, how it had felt too close for comfort. He remembered ashamed how he made such a challenging and confident speech, but if the Alpha had made a step just a little to the right instead, all his words and pride would have been proven as nothing more than deliriums of grandeur. _An Omega playing to be better than an Alpha_ . He bit his lip in frustration, he hadn’t been resourceful, he hadn’t beaten the Alpha, he had been fortunate that the Alpha was too distracted to even look at the evident fault in the terrain; he had just been _lucky_ . The piercing blue eyes and scornful words from the Alpha resonated in his head. _Too easy. It had been too easy._

Hinata groaned and scratched his head furiously in frustration.

“Who does he think he is?! I’ll show him! Next time I’m going to beat him fair and square! No luck, just skills!” He took off an angry bite of the dried meat and munched loudly infuriated at the smugness of the stupid Alpha. He almost choked in his rant and forced the meat down with a little bit of water from the flask. He sighed and stared at the container with a wishful look.

Thoughts of Oikawa and Suga came to his mind. Had they been as fortunate as him to have found that Alpha knight? Had Iwaizumi found Oikwa and made it out of the forest? He really hoped so. Right now he wasn’t feeling so sure about if he would even make it tomorrow, and he was even less confident of surviving the hunt for a whole week.

_A whole week._

The realization hit him hard. An intense cascade of feelings came pouring down, making him feel scared, tired and so, so lonely. A fat ugly tear threatened to come out of his eye as the exhaustion played with his emotions. He hugged his knees tightly as he scrubbed the wetness off with his forearms.

_Happy thoughts, happy thoughts._ He chanted as he made himself think of Natsu and how she would be safe from now on, he thought of meat buns and eggs over rice and he thought of beating the blue eyed Alpha. A tiny smile came up at the thought and he forced it all the way up to his eyes so he could drown the dreaded feelings of helplessness. 

He finished the meager bites of food he had rationed for the night and took from the pouch the honeysuckle flowers and leaves he’d previously harvested. Using the insides of the trunk’s walls, he started grinding and crunching the flowers until he formed a mushy messy paste and smeared it all over his scent glands. He grabbed the pouch and kneaded it enough so he could use it as a makeshift pillow, then he laid his head on top of it and curled onto himself while closing his eyes.

“We’ll make it out. Just focus on one day at a time.” He kept on repeating the words, as he lulled himself to sleep.

  
  


\-----

  
  


The fire crackled and danced in the bonfire, casting eerie silhouettes all around the group’s faces. The four Alphas were submerged in a lively conversation when the rustle of the plants nearby caught their attention. They quickly muted their chatter and turned towards the source of the noise, only for them to snicker loudly once the newcomer made his way into the group.

“What happened to you?” Daishou asked after he composed himself from the surprise and laughter.

Kageyama was standing in front of the group of seated Alphas, the light of the fire making a show out of his torn outfit and muddied clothes. His face was covered in dirt and his hair decorated with twigs and leaves. His ragged look almost suggested that Kageyama had spent the whole day just rolling on the forest floor, which to be fair, how he had spent most of his afternoon crawling his way out of the ditch he had been left in, only to claw his way back up to where his horse was, it was as if he almost had. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He gruffed as he sat next to Ushijima, his scowl on full display.

The hunter’s camping site was a resting place near the northern area of the Hunting Grounds, a strategic settlement far enough as to not attract wildlife and close to the entrance of the forest as to restock supplies as needed or treat any injured participants. It was supervised by the retainers of the Royals, providing them food and refreshments throughout the day. This way the Alphas could rest in case they felt the need to and wouldn’t have to worry about being assaulted by the Omegas, not that it had ever happened, just by the fact that it was guarded all the time, made it unthinkable.

Atsumu chuckled at his statement. “Are you still pissed how the ginger played you dirty?” 

That caught Kageyama’s attention. His eyes widened in surprise as the dumbfounded expression on his face made Atsumu smile.

“How..? Were you watching?” The Karasuno prince asked confused and somewhat offended, showing his emotions as he furrowed his eyebrows at the blond. If he had seen the whole display, he might have helped him out of the dirt as well.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Atsumu replied. “I like to assess the game before deciding what to chase, so naturally, I happened to see what went on between you two, and let me tell you, that ginger of yours is really interesting.” He narrowed his eyes, challenging the other one. Kageyama’s scowl was stronger though, making Atsumu to lift his hands as in apology and avoid the other Alpha’s glare.

“So, that was an Omega’s doing?” Daishou chimed in to stop the possible snarling about to happen, gesturing up and down at Kageyama with his index finger. 

“Yep.” Atsumu grinned as he popped the p. “He made little Tobio fall into a ditch. It was hilarious!” Atsumu chuckled.

“It wasn’t a ditch!” Kageyama clamped his hands into fists and blushed lightly at the teasing. “I stepped on bad terrain, the ground gave way and I fell down _with_ it.” 

“The funniest part is that he had the Omega cornered, talking all mighty of how he had won and everything!” Atsumu couldn’t contain himself, throwing jabs and making Kageyama furiously embarrassed. Karasuno's prince couldn’t hold it any longer, pouncing at a laughing Atsumu, who started to laugh harder as Kageyama tried to silence him.

“He managed to pull one on us as well.” Osamu intervened, before Kageyama could smack the blonde, effectively stopping the childish display of the two Alphas. “He made us chase a fake trail for a solid half an hour until we noticed that his smell was actually coming from a pinecone.” 

“As I said…” Atsumu’s eyes glinted again from under Kageyama’s hold. “Very interesting.”

Kageyama felt the challenge in the blond’s words again and couldn’t help his growling from reverberating in his throat. He tightly grabbed the wrists of the blond and only released them angrily when Atsumu groaned at the pain. He stood up and went back to his seat. He really didn’t like what the blonde was insinuating. What business did that idiot have with his Omega? 

“Relax Tobio!” Atsumu said as he massaged his wrists. “Nobody is taking your game.” He said while rolling his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Daishou teased with a crooked smirk. He was enjoying the display. “You are certainly making it seem as if you want the Omega for yourself.” 

“All I’m saying.” Atsumu replied calmly. “Is that I want to give it a go, that’s all.” He said, shrugging. “It’s still too early on the hunt to mark them, why don’t we just enjoy the thrill of the hunt?“ He suggested as his smile curved high enough to show his canines. Daishou snorted and Osamu shook his head while scoffing.

“The thrill of the hunt?” Kageyama repeated, confused.

“Yeah, you know. That feeling you get when you are chasing your prey?” Daishou provided as if it was obvious. He cocked his head when Kageyama still appeared confused. “It’s like your insides are set on fire, like if every nerve in your body is jolted to life and in your mind there is only the roaring message of chasing, taking. _Marking_.” Daishou smiled widely, focusing on Kageyama. “It’s very addicting.” He finished.

“Didn’t you feel it chasing the little guy?” Osamu asked.

Kageyama tried to remember what he had actually felt, but he had been so focused on the eyes of the Omega and not losing them, that he wasn’t so sure of what he had actually felt when he had ran after him. 

“I’m not sure.” He replied honestly. “The chase was short.” He shrugged as an explanation.

“Then let me ask you something.” This time Atsumu continued. “What did you feel when you caught up to him?” 

That he knew.

“I guess it was something like disappointment?” 

“And when he managed to get away?” Atsumu pressed on, trying to get the other one to figure things out on his own as he continued.

Kageyama pondered at it, trying to remember the exact moment the Omega had made it out of his claws.

“Excitement.” He said, happy at first but suddenly confused at the realization, staring with wide eyes at the group.

The trio of Alphas chuckled at his reply.

“That, Tobio.” Atsumu smiled at the blue-eyed Alpha. “Is the thrill of the hunt.” 

Kageyama stared at them, millions of questions taking up space in his mind. 

“That’s why I told you to enjoy it and not to rush it.” Atsumu continued. “It’s a game, Tobio! And as in any game, the more you play it, the better you get. Both you _and_ your prey. The excitement of a difficult challenge testing you on every turn, pressuring you to be better and the feeling of pride when you finally beat them.” The toothy grin came to his face so naturally. “That, my dear friend…” He waited a beat with an eyebrow arched, drawing all the attention from the inexperienced hunter. “Is what makes the game fun!”

The rest of the Alphas snorted at the blond’s antics. Osamu gave him a smack on the back of his head trying to peel off the stupid smirk the twin was showing. 

“What?” The blond asked, offended. “You all know it's true. It’s encoded in all of us, I’m pretty sure the Omegas are feeling the same.” He shrugged and glanced at his companions before rolling his eyes, when he noticed that the stoic member of their little group had not shared a single word since Kageyama’s arrival. “Well, in most of us at least. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Perfect Alpha over there thinks that all of this is beneath him.” 

As he suddenly noticed the four pairs of eyes stuck on his figure, the olive-eyed man felt the need to address the other prince’s remark.

“I do enjoy the hunt as well.” Ushijima said with his never swaying tone of voice. “Only if the game is worth it. Otherwise it’s a waste of time and effort to pursue an Omega that won’t make the cut.” He added. “Shiratorizawa is a strong country, so their people deserve strong mates to produce stronger litters.” His matter of factly statements made Daishou do an over dramatic roll of his eyes and took out a snort from the twins.

“Would it kill you to just have _fun_ for once? Stop thinking so princely all the time Wakatoshi!” Daishou pouted annoyed. “You are a killjoy, you know? It makes me mad to think that you would rather sit here for almost the entirety of the hunt, instead of having fun chasing prey out there.” He gestured effusively towards their surroundings. “And besides, who made you the judge of the worthiness of an Omega?”

Ushijima stared at Nohebi’s prince with his ever piercing eyes, seemingly unmoving at the question, but in truth, Ushijima Wakatoshi was actually wondering the same. What was what made an Omega worth of being chased? He thought that by principle, the answer was quite obvious; the fact that they could produce healthy and strong offspring for their country, but if that was all what it really was, then, certainly a trial of survival wasn’t the best method to test their worthiness. 

Shiratorizawa was a prideful country. They were known around the continent for their power and strength, no wonder, when Alphas composed the majority of their population. Maybe it was because of their soil, or maybe their genetics, but the thing was that they took pride in their prowess. So, whenever Alphas from Shiratorizawa came to participate in the festival, they had to make sure to bring back Omegas that could carry on their legacy of strong men and women for their country.

But in truth, it wasn’t like Ushijima had ever _chosen_ the worthiness of his prey. Ever since his first hunt, King Washijo, his father, would make sure that the Omegas that the crown considered _worthy_ were to make their way into the prince’s hands. More often than not, they would be the son and daughters of noble houses or the heirs to important influential ones. Ushijima didn’t dawdle on those little details though, as he had been taught not to disobey nor distrust. He was given a scent and he would track it down, no questions asked, only his father’s appraisal and respect. That’s all Ushijima needed; to follow the rules and the paths that had been set for him by the highest Alpha of the kingdom.

He pondered on the question Daishou had asked him and came blank, making an awkward silence to befall on the group of Royals.

“Anyways…” Not being a fan of the stillness, Atsumu decided to cut the tension. “What did you do all day Daishou?” At the question, the Nohebian prince flinched. The lopsided grin of the blond implied that he had caught onto something. “O ho ho! So Karasuno isn’t the only one infatuated with their prey?” He teased, narrowing his eyes so slightly.

Daishou coughed at his hand trying to regain his composure. “That is not something that you need to know, Miya. Stick to your game and leave the rest of us alone, would you?”

The twins shared a knowing look and with mischievous grins went to sit side by side at the offended Alpha. 

“Don’t tell me...” Osamu said leaning closer to the now very nervous Alpha. 

“...That you _did_ find a prey that actually caught your attention?” Atsumu finished with an over dramatic shocked gasp. 

“Daishou Suguru, the cold snake, actually interested in an Omega? They must have scales and sharp fangs for the viper prince to even look at them.” Osamu shook his head mockingly.

“Shut up!!” Daishou growled becoming the very incarnation of a red beet. “She is nothing like that, ok?” He shyly looked at the floor. “She is beautiful.” 

Both twins grinned and smacked the back of the other Alpha hard while enjoying themselves at the expense of the other Alpha’s embarrassment. Atsumu spied with a side glance the reactions of Karasuno’s prince, it was their first time competing against each other in a traditional event, with the dark haired prince having been a shut-in most of his life and all, so the camaraderie and friendly rivalry achieved by previous years of hunting and their own countries celebrations with the others members of the group was something fairly new to the dark haired male.

“Well, I promised I wouldn’t mess with Daishou’s…” Atsumu started with a hint of mischief. “But I am feeling like challenging Tobio’s little Omega tomorrow.” 

“HUH?!” Kageyama barked at him. 

“Tsumu, you promised me that we would look for the one that smelled like pine trees first.” 

“Fine…” The twin groaned in resignation at his brother. He straightened his back afterwards and turned to look at Kageyama. “But if by chance, we were to catch the trail of the little shrimp, I’m going _hunting._ ” Atsumu tilted back his head and narrowed his eyes in challenge, and this time, when Kageyama’s growling answered his words, the blond didn’t back down.

“Like he would get caught by you.” Kageyama narrowed his eyes back and scoffed.

“Just because he made you fall down a ledge, doesn’t make him anything special, Tobio. Maybe you're just the one who sucks at this and wasn't up to the task.” The blond bantered back. “I wouldn’t like to waste my time with an Omega who is not fun. So let me be the judge of his abilities.” Atsumu shrugged.

Kageyama’s eyebrows furrowed angrily. “I don’t suck, and he is not weak.” He growled back. Part of him was protecting his pride, but another was actually and genuinely defending the Omega.

“We’ll see.” Was all that Atsumu smirked back.

The other members of the group sighed and shook their heads with smiles, what was a festival without friendly competition?

The night became chillier and soon the Royals retreated to their own sleeping spots wishing for a restful night. Some of them dreamt of brown eyes and fiery hair, others smiled at the thought of a petite beautiful brown haired girl, while for one olive haired Alpha, thoughts that he had never entertained before made him stare at the silent stars before rest finally came.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Hinata woke up to the sound of incoming footsteps and rustling of foliage, startled at first, he suppressed a gasp and proceeded to quietly spy from the safety of his makeshift shelter. In front of him, a couple of meters away, was one of the Omegas who had volunteered to participate. He couldn’t remember his name, but the characteristically light gray and black tipped hair was unmistakable; they made Hinata think of the tail of a fox. Excited about the idea of finding a companion to his misery, he gathered his stuff and started to climb his way out of the trunk to follow the disappearing figure, when he smelled the now impossible to forget scent of a certain blue-eyed Alpha. He was close, and not only that, but two other distinctive Alpha scents were now cloying the freshness of the forest aroma.

They were probably after the unsuspecting Omega, who, by now, was completely out of Hinata’s sight. He had to warn him, if there were three hunters in the area, there was no way that the man would be able to shake them off by himself. Was the other man even aware of the presence of the other Alphas? How could he not? Though by how unfazed he had seemed in his stroll, it certainly didn't seem like it. Maybe Hinata could yell at him about the situation? But that would alert the hunters of his position. He couldn’t do it, not without leaving his hiding spot first, otherwise it would become his prison. 

Hinata bit his bottom lip in frustration. He would never be able to live with his conscience if he didn’t do something to at least _try_ to warn the other man about the danger they were in. Hating everything about the situation he was being forced into, he jumped out of the trunk and sprinted after the Omega. 

Immediately after, he felt the air change. A pair of eyes became stuck on his frame setting his whole body in flames. His stomach tensed and his heart started to beat madly, making his adrenaline to skyrocket, kicking his instincts awake. 

He ran and ran, avoiding trees and bushes, hearing every now and then the couple of matching footsteps gaining on him. He sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint the location of the other Omega. With his heart beating up in his ears, he got a glimpse of the familiar gray hair and took a deep breath as he got closer and closer. The other man turned in mild shock, just now noticing the sound of Hinata’s feet madly crunching the leaves and twigs as he ran.

“Three Alphas on their way! Run!!” He yelled loudly as he was within reach of the other man’s earshot. 

The other Omega’s eyes widened and turned to run away from Hinata and the apparent pursuers, not having the time to ask questions or doubt the information presented by the ginger. To be fair, Hinata’s facial expression was reason enough to trust his words.

Now that the other Omega had been alerted, Hinata could try to lift the load of the other man’s back. It could be assumed that the blue-eyed Alpha’s hurt pride would make him prioritize the chasing of Hinata, so, if he ran the opposite way to the gray haired Omega, he would be giving him a little more leeway for an attempted escape. 

_Good luck_. He thought as he made a harsh angled turn and started running towards his left.

As he correctly assumed, the scents got divided, but, to his surprise, two scents were now following him; one of them, as expected, being the aforementioned Alpha. He cursed his luck and just hoped for an opportunity to come up with a plan, something, just like last time. But the terrain was flat and unforgiving and the pace of the Alphas relentless.

He cursed his heightened senses when he started smelling the excited scents that came from them, over stimulating his mind. He felt a whine threatening to come up at the pressure he was feeling and forced it down with a groan. They were getting close.

In his desperation, his ears picked up a new noise, one that he had been looking for so long yesterday but now could not have come at a possible worst time; the rushing waters of a river.

He ran towards the direction of the sound, thinking that a change of terrain may offer new opportunities, but as he ran, the trees started to diminish in number and the ground was gradually replaced by rockier footing, until he ended face to face to where the river cut the earth, only to discover that the river was actually a few meters below and what separated him from the other side of it was a wide stretch of nothing but air. 

He skidded to a halt before he could fall from the edge. He considered jumping down and into the river, but the unknown depth of the waters made him fear the consequences of such a reckless idea.

The footprints were echoing closer and closer and the anxious Alpha scent made him whimper out loud at the thought of them being _that_ close. There was no time now, he would have to jump and just hope that he would make it to the other side or, in the worst case scenario, pray that the waters below were deep enough as to not die from his temerarious attempt at freedom.

He backed up for some running distance and dashed madly forwards just at the moment that a blond Alpha emerged from the woods and witnessed the little ginger man launch himself to the other side. The blond man stood there in shock, mouth gaping at the feat that the Omega was just displaying. 

Hinata made it to the other side, missing completely the landing, rolling on the mudded soil with pained grunts as his body came to a stop from the momentum. He regained himself painstakingly slow, moaning at the aching of his bruised arms and legs, and cheered loudly once he noticed that he was not, in fact, dead.

“Hah!” He shouted, sprinting up and pointing a finger to the still shocked blond Alpha. “Take that!” He yelled enthusiastically, raising his arms in victory before he started to jog further away from his pursuers.

Atsumu stayed there, unmoving. His wide eyes unblinking at the retreating figure, gaping and still in shock unable to say anything until he noticed a certain dark haired man approaching him by the side.

“He… flew.” Atsumu mumbled absentmindedly. 

“I told you he wasn’t weak.” Kageyama smirked at Atsumu. He couldn’t help a small amount of pride at the fact that his little Omega had left the cocky Atsumu in a gaping state. 

The blond twin barely noticed how Kageyama started to take a few steps back before dashing towards the cliff’s edge, reacting just in time to grab the wrist of the blue-eyed Alpha.

“Wait!” He gasped as he was almost launched forwards in his attempt to stop the prince from trying something so stupidly reckless. “Do you want to die?!” He shouted at the other’s face. “What happens if you fall down!?”

Kageyama just looked at him blankly and pointed towards the other side as it was obvious. “He did it just fine.”

“What kind of logic is that?!” Atsumu roared. “For all you know that _thing_ has springs for legs!”

It was Kageyama’s turn to smirk at the blonde’s outburst. “What’s that Miya? Are you scared?”

Atsumu spluttered while flinching aggressively; clearly he had struck a nerve with his remark.

“Bring it on, then” The blond growled while stepping backwards, Kageyama following closely. He looked at those blue eyes one last time, before turning to stare at the other side’s edge. He breathed in slowly, and with a roar, they both sprinted off forwards, trying to gain all the momentum they could. 

Atsumu opened his eyes as he got too close to the ledge and noticed how _high_ they really were. The image of him hitting the river’s water made him freeze just before he could jump from the ledge. He fell on his knees as his hands grabbed desperately the rocky ground for safety. 

With a ragged breath he looked up to the other side and saw Kageyama’s perfect landing and how he was sliding himself to a stop. Atsumu slammed the ground angrily with his fist and grunted. 

Kageyama turned his upper body over his shoulder to look at a defeated Atsumu and couldn’t help his face from splitting with a smile. “I guess I’ll go ahead then.” He smirked at the blond’s angered eyes and started running in the direction the Omega had taken.

Kageyama’s Alpha howled happily in his head, filled with the excitement and pride of his previous victory. He didn’t know what he was more happy about, the idea of chasing the Omega or the sweet taste of victory against another Alpha. Without having experienced either before, he wasn’t sure what brought the most satisfaction, but he was smiling hard at how much fun he was having. He understood why their ancestors started this festival after all, he had never experienced something more addicting as the feelings coursing through his body right now.

_The thrill of the hunt, huh?_ He mused when he finally saw orange hair at the distance. The sudden image of the Omega flying to the other side of the cliff was stuck on his mind. The exact moment when it had seemed that the ginger had been suspended in the air, all time frozen. The perfect second for Kageyama to admire the tenacity and spirit of the small man, firing up his Alpha, his mind, his body, his will to go and never stop chasing after the Omega. 

_I don’t want it to stop._ He smiled, barely containing himself.

As if it had been a calling, the Omega’s head snapped to take in the image of the running Alpha. Kageyama could see the split second reaction from the boy who started to sprint like a mad man, clearly surprised at having been actually followed after his break away attempt.

_How..?_ Hinata screamed at himself even though he knew the answer. He had been too smug. Maybe the blonde had been fazed by the danger of falling, but he should have known better. Especially if the Alpha who was chasing him was the one he had previously eluded… and challenged. 

“Why do you have to be so stubborn!” Hinata groaned loudly hitting his head with his fist. He wasn’t regretting the challenge itself, but certainly he wasn’t delighted about being targeted specifically by it. He had pissed off an Alpha, so what? It wouldn’t be the first time, although it was certainly the first time in his current circumstances.

He became so enthralled cursing his own luck, that he barely had time to notice the inclined terrain he was fastly approaching. He started his descent cautiously but quick, legs still hurting from his previous stunt, every attempt to break his fast sliding pressuring different sore spots, but when the Alpha was not taking the same safety measures than him, Hinata was forced to start threading less carefully and more hastily, specially when the longer legs of the Alpha were making far better progress than the Omega.

He slid way too fast and got caught in the loose rubble making him stumble and roll downhill. With a grunt and panicked gasp he landed against the flat bottom of the incline. He barely had time to think before he was kicking himself up and running again, his heart stopping when the thudding noise of a pair of boots echoed too close for comfort. His ears ringed from the adrenaline and his nostrils flared at the heavily coated Alpha smell that just screamed the danger of its closeness, but he had to see, he _had_ to verify where the Alpha was, how much he could do before-

“Got you.”

Hinata’s head turned to the sound of a deep paralyzing inducing voice, meeting with shock and panicked wide eyes the other man’s deep and narrowed blue ones for half a second before he felt the ground on his chest and the weight of a body on top of him.

The pressure the Alpha was emitting made Hinata cower in submission, he had never felt something like what the man holding him down was making his Omega feel in those moments. He couldn’t react, he couldn’t move, he could only watch paralyzed and numb at how the Alpha got his head closer and closer to his neck, demanding Hinata’s total submission. Unable to even think, the Omega bit his lip and shut his eyes out of desperation waiting for the moment that those fangs would brand him, a reminder for the rest of his life of his inferiority, of his status, of this loss. He felt the breath of the other man in his ear, making him shiver, tears threatening to slip from his eyes.

“That’s one loss and one win for me.” The voice came in a deep growl, shutting Hinata’s mind down.

And with that, the weight was lifted and the other man started his retreat, leaving Hinata on the floor, shivering. His brain unable to process what was happening, confused and demanding answers. He lifted his body to stare at the walking Alpha.

“What?!” Hinata shouted in a mix of anger and fear, unable of any other words as his brain was clearly malfunctioning.

The Alpha stopped and turned to look at him. A cheeky smile on his face and excitement on his eyes.

“You may have escaped at the cliff, but I caught you in this run.” The Alpha answered intensely, with a hint of pride in his words. “So I’m giving you a headstart for the next one. There is still time until the end of the festival, so I’m not marking you yet, as that would end the game.” _And I’m having fun._ He thought, but did not say. With eyes glinting at the thought of another chase, he turned and made his way back into the woods at a moderate pace.

It took Hinata approximately 5 minutes after he no longer saw the blue-eyed Alpha to realize what had just happened. 

“Whaaaaaaaaat?!” 

  
  


\-----

  
  


By the time he had gathered himself and attempted to make his way towards the direction of the river, Hinata was no longer in shock or paralyzed or confused or numb. No. He was _livid_. He kept on stomping angrily on the forest at the humiliation he had just been through. He was mumbling to himself while he grunted and grumbled at the mere thinking of the stupid Alpha.

“Who does he think he is?!” He roared at no one, while kicking a stone as he walked, every time he remembered the voice of the Alpha it made his fists twitch at the anger and audacity of the other man’s tease and demeanor. Hinata knew that the Alphas thought of this as a game, but he never had considered that it would actually _mean_ a game. Like a torturing catch and release never ending game of cats and mice, and just like with the animals, it would only finish when boredom made the cat eat the mouse. 

He drew a hand to his nape in a reflexive gesture. He had felt every single hair in his neck stand on point at the idea of the Alpha’s fangs near his skin, his mind had given up his control to his inner instincts, and for the whole duration of the seconds that it took Hinata retake the control, they had craved the other man’s mark. He had hated it. He cursed the lack of control of his instincts and hissed out loud remembering the shocking blue deep eyes that were now haunting his thoughts.

He groaned loudly as he approached the riverbed. If something positive had come from the whole altercation, is that he had finally found water, and the good thing of it coming from a river, was that he would be able to use the direction of its current as a guide to get out of the forest. He kneeled at the side of the running waters to fill his flask, he chugged down some of it and refilled it quickly. 

Spotting some bright fishes, he thought of catching one, but switched his idea of a fresh dinner for a quick bath and cleanse instead. If he wanted to avoid his pursuers, he might as well get rid of any lingering smell from his clothes. At the thought of the Alpha, he grunted once more while scrubbing furiously his clothes and body clean, or as clean as he could make himself with just the river’s water.

He got out soaking and groaning one last time, sitting on the rocks near the river to angrily eat the remainders of his provisions while he waited for the sun to dry him up a bit before he could move on. 

“I’m going to beat him in his own game.” He fumed between bites. “You hear me?!” He shouted at the forest, now aware that the other man could be lurking and waiting to go on with his tortuous idea of fun. “I’m going to beat you and get out of here! You’d wish you had marked me back then, because I’m not giving you another chance to do so!” He roared, finally standing up, fired up with his provocation.

He waited for a reaction, something to come out from the forest as a sign of being heard, that the challenge had been accepted, so when the sound of hooves answered to his outburst, he couldn’t help getting a little tense in anticipation, a small smirk forming in his lips at the thought of irritating the smug Alpha, but the man on the horse didn’t have black hair nor blue eyes, though the frown in his face could come close to the other Alpha’s one.

“Why would I want to mark you?” 

The stoic face and low tone of voice made Hinata shiver. This was definitely not the Alpha he was trying to taunt. There was no smirk, no smile, just an imposing stature, the image of raw and undeniable power. 

Hinata’s Omega hadn’t been more sure in his whole life. _This was an Alpha._

The Alpha gave the most degrading look Hinata had ever felt in his life. “No stature, strength, height nor title. After what I heard from the others I assumed you’d be different.” He sighed disappointed, as if something heavy lingered on his mind. “But it appears I was wrong. You are not worth it after all.” And with a simple tugging of the reins of his white stallion, the Alpha kept on his way, making Hinata’s knees buckle and fall to the ground at the sheer effect the simple encounter had had on his body.

If the confrontation with the blue-eyed Alpha had been a blow to his ego, this one had completely and utterly destroyed it. He swallowed hard as he tried to dismiss the stone setting in his stomach. 

He felt so small, so insignificant as if all his efforts were going to be proven fruitless. It was painful. He wanted it to stop, but he had to take a step forward. At this moment, escaping was not the only thing on his mind.

“Oh... I’ll show you all the worthiness of an Omega.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must confess that in the beginning, the other Royals weren’t even going to be mentioned more than as passing as the whole hunt was going to follow sunshine boy and the main cast, but the anime started to play dirty with me and make me see Atsumu in a completely different way, so I had issues in the way I was portraying him…. I rewrote this chapter a LOT. 
> 
> I had so many struggles trying to decide what route to take, as this fic has decided to write itself on its own and I just have to try to make the story progress from point A to point B, but all the characters and their interactions had come from someplace else, I don’t know where… Because certainly most of them weren’t in the original draft hahahaha! 
> 
> Again, thank you so much for all the support, comments and encouraging words! In these troubling times they are more than welcomed, they make me want to write, and do stuff and wake up in the morning, so thank you! Thank you so, so, so much! 
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


	8. Conversations by the fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! First of all I wanted to thank you so much for all the comments, kudos, support and attention you have given to this! I’m overwhelmed by your words! You are the best! 
> 
> Special thanks to CShirSalad honestly, I don’t know what I would do without you!
> 
> Thank you to all those that take the time to like, comment, subscribe and leave such nice words of encouragement! I love you so much! You guys are the reason for me to keep on writing!
> 
> I’m so sorry for the time it took to write this one down. I caught a mild cold and wasn’t feeling that great, don't worry, nothing serious ;)
> 
> Anyways… Here it is! I hope you guys like this chapter!

“You should eat something.” 

“We can’t waste anymore time.” The man grumbled while clenching his fists at his sides. “We are on our third day, Daichi… For all we know Oikawa may be in trouble, hurt or passed out due to stubbornness.”

“He won’t be the only one if you don’t eat something Hajime.” Daichi scolded him. “ You need to eat.” The brown eyed Alpha offered a piece of bread and cheese to Iwaizumi, who, after a long defeated sigh, accepted and started munching on it.

It was noon of the third day since the Primeveral festival had begun and Iwaizumi was about to lose it. They hadn’t made any progress tracking Oikawa’s scent and as days became nights, the nagging feeling on the pit of his stomach only grew. He needed to find the prince as soon as possible, every second they spent wasting on things as eating or resting were keeping him from finding the Omega’s whereabouts.

Daichi sighed at the distress scent that started to emanate from his friend. He looked for the already mushed plants he had picked up previously and offered them to the other Alpha. 

“Sorry.” Iwaizumi mumbled, as he breathed in deeply, trying to keep his feelings in check. “It’s just…” He was cut short by a tender smile from Daichi as he tried to look for the words to explain what had gotten him so anxious. 

“I know.” Daichi said fondly, and that was all that Iwaizumi needed. 

The green eyed Alpha smiled back as he smeared the paste on himself. “Thank you Sawamura. I really don’t know what I would have done without your help.”

“It’s okay. I’m pretty sure you would have done the same for me if it was prince Kageyama, the one that had gone missing.” He hummed as he took back the remainders of the mushed plants and safely put them back into his pouch, completely missing the furrowed brows of the other Alpha. 

Was it just because it was his duty? Iwaizumi wasn’t so sure anymore. There was this pressing feeling in his gut that it made this whole rescue mission to feel more personal. Was it due to a feeling of loyalty to the prince? The years of friendship? The trust on Oikawa to create a better and fairer country?

They sat at a log to rest their feet. They hadn’t stopped walking since early morning and Iwaizumi had barely slept a wink since hearing the reports from Makki the night before. Since discovering the plot for Shiratorizawa’s prince to track Oikawa down, Makki’s surveillance role had been focused mainly on Ushijima’s tailing, while Matsukawa would divide his time following the other princes. Having no intention of disguising their scents, and blindsided by their instincts on the prowl, tracking the Alpha hunters was easy, the hard part was to remain undetected by them. 

From what Makki had told them in their previously arranged meeting spot, the past days Ushijima had mostly kept himself near the camping site, with one exception detour towards the river, probably in an assessment of the area, meanwhile the other hunters had started to show preferences about some of the other Omegas having stalked them throughout the days. There was no gossiping about the surprising participation of prince Oikawa, so it was safe to assume that the only Alpha with his scent was, indeed, Ushijima. 

“Then what is he doing? Why would he lounge near the camping area?” Iwaizumi had asked the group.

“It’s how the hunt goes.” Daichi replied, shrugging.

The other two stared at him confused. 

“I forgot that Oikawa always skips this event.” He said, sighing. “During the celebration of the festival, it has become somewhat of a tradition for the participants of the hunt to stalk their prey down on the first days.” As Daichi saw still confused stares thrown at him, he elaborated. “What I mean is that nobody will mark the Omegas until the host, in this case prince Kageyama, has made a bond mark to his own prey or after the third night of the festival has passed.” 

“Why?” Makki asked.

“Well, they won’t mark the Omegas before the host out of respect, kind of showing the ruler of the country that they are guests and would not offend them in any way.” Daichi pondered trying to recall the gossips from the nobles. “If you ask me though, I bet the only one that actually does that out of princely etiquette is Shiratorizawa’s prince. I’m pretty sure the other Alphas just want to prolong their hunt.”

“Then why not wait until the last day?” Iwaizumi asked. “Why the fourth day?”

“How many days can you survive without water Iwaizumi?” Daichi asked somberly. 

Nobody replied to the implications of the question.

“The Omegas that come here, tend to not be in their best conditions to start with, add the stress of survival and they may not make it to the fourth day at all. The Alphas know that, so they can extend it up so much before their game is not fun anymore.” The way Daichi phrased it made Iwaizumi shiver at the idea.

As Iwaizumi recalled their conversation from last night, the image of a passed out Oikawa made him flinch when Daichi spoke once more, bringing him back to the present.

“Just try to keep your head cool. It’s not only the prince’s safety at risk here. If we are discovered in the middle of the Royal’s hunting game, and on top of that, looking for an Omega, we are certainly ending in prison… or worse.” Daichi rubbed his neck. “I’ve seen it happen more than once… And believe me, it won’t matter the rank or relationships we have with the higher ups.”

“I know.” Iwaizumi replied, biting his lower lip trying to clear off his head. The image of Oikawa came to his mind once more and the pain in his chest pierced him to the point of almost making him whine. “I’m just scared, Daichi.” 

This was a first. After all the years of Daichi knowing the other man, it was the first time Iwaizumi had called him with such a tone of voice. Like if he was on the verge of crying. It didn’t help to settle the uneasiness Daichi was feeling either. 

“Of getting caught?” He asked back.

“Of losing him.” Iwaizumi replied, grappling the front of his shirt tightly.

“Oh.” And then it hit him.  _ Oh _

All these years of teasing and bantering at the other knight’s relationship with the prince, believing to be impossible due to their difference in status and hierarchy, only to be actually true. The face that Iwaizumi was making in those moments wasn’t the one of a knight fearing for his prince’s safety; it was the look of a sorrowful man fearing the loss of the most important thing in his world. Daichi’s gaze softened at the realization. 

“Have you told him?” 

Iwaizumi didn’t answer. Part of him was confused at the question, but the other part  _ knew _ what Sawamura was asking; what he was actually implying. And, if he had to be honest with himself, maybe he had always known. He was just bad at realizing the name for the feeling he had for every time he and Tooru enjoyed spending together. The bickering and mocking names they would give each other. The smile the prince would give to him and him only. The soft touches they would share when the Omega was in need of reassurance and the never ending trust Oikawa had for his knight. The true name for the overflowing feeling Iwaizumi had every time he got lost in those beautiful deep brown eyes.

“No.” He said as the coldness of his eyes was replaced by the warmness of acceptance. There was no point in denying it any longer, especially if the fire behind this feeling was what kept him moving forward.

“More the reason for us to find the prince then.” Daichi grabbed the shoulder of Iwaizumi tightly and fondly. 

Iwaizumi smiled at that and nodded. He grabbed Daichi’s hand and stood up, helping the other man as he did so. 

“So Ushijima will start hunting tomorrow morning then?”

“Most likely.” Daichi replied.

“Then we have no time to waste.”

  
  


\-----

  
  


With a ragged breath and his hands on his knees, Kageyama was starting to think that letting the Omega go hadn’t been his best idea after all. He looked up at the now smirking orange haired boy in a similar exhausted state, but at least two meters above and away from him. 

“That makes it five to one now?” The challenging tone and defiant demeanor made Kageyama’s blood boil. He was mocking him, but why was his Alpha so eager to go after the insolent brat? 

“That’s cheating!” He barked out instead. 

“You are just a sore loser!” The Omega growled back laughing, sticking out his tongue as he disappeared from the Alpha’s view.

The past two days had been spent just like that, Kageyama getting close to get a hold of the ginger, only for the Omega to leap out of his claws. This time, though, it had been something otherworldly; just as the Alpha was at the brink of reaching for his back, the little Omega had sprang up, practically flying to the higher grounds of a rock formation, leaving the Alpha gasping for air as the other man continued to climb up until he was completely out of reach. He was starting to think that there may have been some truth in Atsumu’s claim of the omega having springs for legs. 

For every evasive maneuver the Omega did, the more enthralled Kageyama’s inner Alpha became for the other. Every jump, every dash, every outsmarting move the orange haired boy did was engraved in his mind, replaying and looping whenever he closed his eyes. But the feeling of the Omega actually escaping was starting to play with his head and his own movements and calculations had started to become sloppier out of fear and anxiety. He was going to have to focus if he wanted to catch him, and make sure that the next time the ginger was under his hold, he would not let him go. 

He cursed as his patience grew thin and the retreating figure of the Omega completely vanished from his sight. He had to think of a new strategy; clearly running straightforward after the orange-haired man was not working anymore. He would have to return to the riverside first and plan accordingly after. He had noticed that the Omega had started to use the river as a guide to move along the woods, which meant that he was navigating himself throughout the forest and no longer getting lost. That could only lead to the ginger to find the outskirts of the wood sooner rather than later. That was something Kageyama was not willing to let happen. 

He had tried to herd him out of the area repeatedly, but the stubbornness of the ginger was only comparable to his own. He had spent the previous night camping and surveilling around the area, keeping his senses alert at the most innocuous movement or noise, in case the Omega would attempt to use the cover of the night to his advantage, but apparently even jumping monsters needed to rest their bodies, so after a brief nap, he had resumed the chase as he heard the forest becoming alive again with the rising of the sun. Nevertheless, even if the discovery and fixation with the river meant that the Omega was getting closer towards a possible escape, it also meant a way for Kageyama to easily find the ginger’s location again.

So, deprived of sleep, exhausted and hungry the Alpha hopped onto his stallion once more and made his way back to the river.

_ This time… This time it will be the last. _ He thought as the resolve bubbled on his body.

  
  


\-----

  
  


“I can’t Suga.” Oikawa whined loudly with a disgusted pout on his lips. 

“Stop whining and eat the damn thing Oikawa. Honestly, you are worse than a child.” Sugawara scolded back as he worked on his own meal.

“But they are still moving.” The prince scrunched his nose as he elongated the vowels in a renewed attempt at protesting. 

Fed up with the childish behaviour of the Omega, Sugawara picked up one of the sticks by the fire with the now roasted white grubs inserted on it. “No they are not. They are completely cooked and safe to eat.” He said poking the bug with his fingers. “Now stop being a child!” He shoved the stick towards Oikawa’s mouth who flinched at the sight of the bugs getting closer, forcing him to clasp his hands against his mouth in reaction. “Oikawa! Stop. Being. A child!” The silver haired man growled as he struggled against the stubborn prince who still refused to eat the creepy crawlers. 

“Fine!” Suga shouted letting go of the other man’s hold. “If you don’t want to eat it I won’t force you, but this is the only food we have left!” His tone became angry, he was starting to feel the anxiety of the dreading deadline hanging above their heads. He just wished for a little more time in the safety of their denial. 

The cave they had found after their first startling day had become both a blessing and a curse. At first, it had seemed like the ideal place to wait for the festival to be over; it gave them a safe place to remain hidden from the hunters while the wild mint undergrowth growing at its edges, provided the resources for an effective scent camouflage. They came to the decision that the best course of action for them, would be to stay in the cave as long as they could, only coming out to find water and food at night or when the scents of Alphas were no longer in the area. But after three days of sheltering them, the resources nearby were thinned out and there was still no source of water to be found in their vicinity. The patchy throats and headaches were now starting to become more frequent, and if they wanted a chance to get out, they had to start with a chance at surviving. If they wanted water, they would have to broaden their search and very possibly, abandon the safety of their shelter.

Suga sighed heavily. The weight of the decision being intensified by a throbbing headache. “Oikawa… We are on our third day here and we still haven’t found water. There is so much liquid we can get from what we have been eating, which it hasn’t been much, let me remind you.” He said as he eyed the impaled grubs still uneaten by the brunette. 

“I know.” The other man replied with the same solemn tone, he was trying to avoid his eyes. He knew what Suga was trying to tell him.

“It’s clear that this cave has been practical for now, but if the river is not around here…” He left the sentence in the air, not wanting to finish it as it would mean to face the reality of leaving what they had started to believe was a safe space, their little haven where they wouldn’t be hunted down. Where they could wait for the storm to pass and leave unscathed after everything was over. 

“I know.” This time Oikawa held the silver haired man’s gaze. He sighed deeply and hugged his knees. “I know.”

They remained in silence as the fire crackled in the depths of the cave. The sun would be setting in a couple of hours and they would put it down so as to not cast any type of sign that would give away their current whereabouts. 

Oikawa sighed once more as he picked up the uneaten worms and with the most disgusted face he could muster he began to eat them. He was not stupid, childish, maybe, but he knew he would need any source of energy for the following days… Only fate knew if they would be able to make it back to the cave once they found the river, or if they would even find it in the first place.

“I don’t care what Saeko might have told you.” Oikawa said, pouting, trying to lighten up the mood. “These do not taste like chicken  _ at all _ .” He grumbled as he swallowed them down, earning a laugh from the other Omega. 

“I wouldn’t have even tried to eat these things if it weren’t for her words to be honest.” Suga chuckled as he ate his ration. “It was such a surprise to find Alphas like her looking out for Omegas in our situation. I think it’s the first time I’ve even met one.” He added as an afterthought.

Oikawa’s lips curled into a faint smile. The image of a certain spiky haired Alpha coming to his mind.

“Yeah… they are a special kind of breed.” He said fondly. 

“They?” 

“You know…” He mumbled as he shrugged one shoulder. “Alphas who do not look at us in a demeaning way.” Oikawa hugged his knees, resting his chin on top of them. The same soft smile curling his lips and equally soft eyes resting on the flames of the fire between them. “Alphas who look at you as if you really mattered to the world. Alphas that make you believe in yourself because they believe in you. Alphas who are willing to sacrifice their own shot at happiness for the uncertainty of a mere dream.” He hugged his knees even tighter as his voice threatened to break. “Alphas that make you want to change the world because they have changed yours.” 

A silence befell the cave once more, the heaviness of the prince’s words echoing in the cavernous walls. Sugawara looked at Oikawa with a fond smile, understanding the meaning behind the longing eyes of the prince, he scooched closer to the brunette and rested his head on the other man’s shoulder, hugging him tightly.

“We are going to make it out, Oikawa.” Suga cooed as he soothed the other man’s trembling figure. “And then, when everything is alright again, you will be able to tell all those nice things to your Alpha, all right?” He asked as he softly rubbed the other man’s back.

Oikawa did not answer, the words kept lodged in his throat. His pride wanted to rebut the other Omega’s claim, but his taut chest and misty eyes were making it really difficult to argue against the truth of the silver haired man’s words. It was true, after all. Oikawa had always thought of Iwaizumi as his, but it was definitely the first time that he had considered him as his pair. And what Oikawa was surprised at the most, was how warm the thought of it made him feel. 

Instead of saying it out loud though, he just nodded, as the soft patting on his back kept his tears from spilling.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Hinata came to a stop after making sure that the blue eyed Alpha’s scent was not lingering in the air anymore. Cleaning the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand he looked for some shade to shelter himself from the relentless sun. Between the heat of the afternoon and the never ending chase, the Omega was drenched and parched, at this rate, his water supplies would run out even sooner than he had expected. He would have to get closer to the river soon to replenish them, even though it would mean exposing himself once again to the keen eyes of the Alpha.

He sat down under the shade of a tree to chug down his remaining water. If he was fast enough, maybe he would make it to the river before the Alpha had a chance to spot him. It was obvious to the Omega now, that the Alpha was camping and lurking around the riverside due to Hinata’s intent of using it as a wayfinder, so going to the river now before the Alpha had a chance to return from their previous encounter would be the wisest decision. To sprint now and then hide under the shades of the trees and bushes. To remain unseen. Yes. That was the safest bet. Then… Why was his whole body and mind begging to wait so the Alpha had a chance to find him!? Why was he feeling this excitement every time he smelled the scent of the blue eyed Alpha near? Why did his body react to the point of wanting to go chasing after him, wanting to provoke the other man, instead of running away? 

He remembered the exact moment he started to look out for the other male’s scent in anticipation instead of fear. Something in his mind had been triggered after being caught and let go by the Alpha. Maybe it was the reassurance of not being bonded  _ yet _ , the idea that it was, after all, just a game. Maybe it had been the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the Alpha and how  _ good _ he had felt once he managed to evade the claws of the man, on purpose this time; no luck, no chance, just his skills. How natural the bickering and taunting felt once they got into a rhythm of chasing and fleeing. How his instincts were demanding the total attention of the Alpha, and the Alpha was replying by not only giving it, but devoting himself completely to the Omega in this relentless game of chase.

“This is wrong!” He groaned loudly as he scratched his head furiously. “This is a sadistic game of chase Hinata! You should be worried about getting the hell out of here and flee for your life!” He shouted at no one as he rubbed the palm of his hands on his eyes. He breathed in slowly, as he tilted his head up while his hands stretched the skin of his face out of frustration. “What is wrong with me?” He asked softly, hugging his knees. “Why am I enjoying this?” 

He stood up after his brief rest. He shouldn’t be lingering on his confusing feelings anymore, he had to move on, he had a sister to return to.

_ That’s right! _ He thought cheerfully.  _ Wait for me Natsu! I’m getting closer to the border, I can feel it. _

He made his way back to the river quickly, filling the flask in smooth and precise movements before running back to the shelter of the foliage. He made his routine check up of familiar voices, hoping that this time he would be able to reunite with Oikawa or Suga, but, as many times before this one, the riverside was devoid of any movement or noise, the only sound breaking the forest background stillness was the gushing noises made by the moving waters by his side.

As he made his way deeper and deeper into the woods uninterrupted, the feeling of guilt about leaving Oikawa and Sugawara behind had started to make its way into his conscience. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe that both men were able to survive in the forest, but the stake of losing Oikawa’s promise of a safer future for the Omegan population was something that he couldn’t ignore. It was a once in a lifetime chance at a possible era of peace for Omegas all over the country and he was just going to let it go for his own safety? Surely it would be a really selfish act, it was his  _ duty _ to go back and make sure the prince was found safe and sound, so he would return him to the castle in one piece and he would fulfill his promise. 

Yes. It was a matter of responsibility for his whole brethren, not the fact that he was actually thinking of missing out the chance of being chased one last time by a certain blue eyed Alpha. Of course not. That wasn’t the case at all, because that would mean that he had gone insane and Hinata was not a crazy person, so naturally, he was only worried about the idea that if he were to get out now, it would mean leaving Oikawa behind and with him, the chance of a life out of hiding for so many unfortunate people. It was as simple as that.

He sighed heavily at the storm that was his head. 

He kept on walking without realizing how the density of the woods had started to dim as he threaded on. The trees that kept a constant shadow on his path started to give way to the scorching rays of the sun and it was after he swept the sweat of his forehead for a fourth time that he came to notice how he was not in the thick of the forest anymore, but at the outskirts of it.

“I made it.” He said barely in a whisper. “I made it!” He repeated, this time louder as he couldn’t believe it himself.

He started dashing through, anxious of making it to the outside, his heart in his throat as he could taste his freedom. Thoughts of Oikawa and the others forgotten, as his own survival dangled in front of him. 

A sudden obscure mass in the distance made him inexplicably furious and scared, as if his eyes had seen something that his own mind was refusing to put together. In complete denial he rushed towards the now evident object that was making his blood boil in anger and desperation. He crashed against the wooden logged fence, shaking it furiously as his brain still refused to believe that his freedom was just at the other side of the three meters tall obstruction. 

“No, no, no, NO!” He roared as he trashed against the fence, every punch and slammed hand growing desperate with each passing second. 

He immediately tried to climb it, looking for indents to place his feet and pushed himself up, but the shaved logs provided no holdings. The more he jumped and climbed, the more desperate he became. There were no attempts at remaining silent anymore, as his distressed emotions were clouding his mind and souring the air. Every grunt, every whimper and every ragged breath that the Omega made in his strive to go over his last hurdle were being picked up by his surroundings, and after falling on his rear at a renewed failed attempt, the menacing growl that arose at his back made him freeze immediately. With his heart in his throat, he slowly turned his head at the unnerving animalistic feral sound.

The glinting eyes of the beast were unforgiving and the reared up muzzle of the hound put on display the sharpest fangs Hinata had ever seen. Drool fell from the bottom lips of the dog as it moved closer and closer to the Omega, who remained unmoving at the sight of the beast. Hinata started to turn his body slowly so as not to force any sudden outburst from the growling animal. Maybe if he made his way back to the woods, the dog would leave him be. They were probably the hounds Saeko warned them about. The beast was there to protect the border, so he would just have to get out of its territory and he would be fine, right? The sudden snap of a branch under the orange haired kid was all it took to set the events in motion. 

Startled by the sudden noise, the dog leapt forwards baring his fangs ready to snap at the Omega’s limbs, but true to his reflexes, Hinata managed to slam the branch against the dog’s face, using the motions to lift himself off and start running away from the animal who did not take much time to whine and sprint off after him. It was then when Hinata noticed two other canines flanking him on both sides, they looked as ferocious as the one behind him.

In a clear pack hunting maneuver, one of the dogs ran forwards and stopped Hinata’s retreat while the other two closed off his possible escape routes. He was surrounded, about to be mauled by some stupid dogs because some stupid Alpha’s pride was more important than the idea of Omegas escaping from their stupid little hunting game. He cursed his luck as he faced the challenge in front of him. His little fangs came undone as his fingernails curved into sharpened claws. 

_ Well… If I’m going down, I’m going down fighting.  _ Was all he could think before he started snarling and growling back at the dogs that circled him.

One of the dogs growled back at the taunt and threw himself against Hinata, who barely dodged the bite, throwing his own jab to the animal’s side, a crimson red stream resulting in the altercation. The other two did not wait for a respite, launching themselves against the Omega, who managed to evade the first, but had to protect his face with his arm from the second.

The wailing from the bite was short but echoed in the quietness of his surroundings. Suppressing his pain, he used the other hand to attack the animal until he let go of his arm. He cradled the bleeding limb for a second before the beasts tried for an attack again, he curled his lips hissing loudly at the leaping dog, but was shut up at the shock of a figure crashing down against the animal’s side. It took him a second to recognize the man. It was the blue eyed Alpha. The shock gave way to a small relieved smile that crossed Hinata’s face. The Alpha growled at the three injured dogs. They snarled back, ready for a renewed attempt at their attack.

Hinata stood there in awe as the Alpha struck precisely and forcefully at the beasts, but the dogs kept attacking relentlessly. The Omega noticed how the movements of the Alpha started to falter after one hit barely missed the mark and one of the dogs bit down at the Alpha’s side, making him groan in pain. He shook the dogs off of him, slashing and growling at the incoming beasts. With a strong and forceful strike, the man hit the bleeding face of one of the dogs who let out a loud whine and started to retreat, followed by the others after the Alpha let out the most threatening growl Hinata had ever heard in his life.

Hinata saw the panting figure in front of him, bleeding from his side and arms. His hands turned crimson with, he hoped, the other beast's blood. He was now looking over his shoulder towards the Omega and Hinata could only hold his stare speechless, completely taken aback from the other man’s actions. He swallowed, trying to recover a little as he noticed how hard his hands were trembling.

“Thank-” 

Hinata could not finish the sentence as the other man collapsed like a ragdoll in front of him.

It was as if the universe was sending him a message; with both threats out of the way, he would be able to make his escape. He had just to leave his pursuer behind and made his way to the other side of the log fence. He would just have to leave a probably dying man, who had just risked his life to save him... But he was one of the  _ hunters _ . He wasn’t like Saeko, or the knights that had helped him before… he was a  _ bad _ Alpha. He had been hunting him down the previous three days and having fun at the expenses of his own suffering. He was one of the Alphas that made Omegas everywhere suffer. He was part of the problem. This was no excuse. Just because he did one selfish act right in front of him, it didn’t mean that he was exonerated from his past deeds. Is not like Hinata had asked him to help him… Furthermore! The only reason that he was around the area was because he was probably tracking Hinata down in the first place, so he shouldn’t… He didn’t owe him… He...

“AUGH!” Hinata groaned at himself. “It’s not like I’ll be able to climb the fence with an injured arm anyways.” He mumbled angrily, still trying to make his decision.

He stepped closer to the unconscious man, fearful at first, thinking that this was all a trap to make him lower his defenses so he could snatch him up. He tapped the other man with his foot and flinched back quickly, but calmed down after he noticed that the Alpha remained limp and still. He let out the breath he had been holding and looked around for some place they could use as shelter to take care of their wounds and rest for a bit. 

“There is no place to go.” He reasoned out loud. “How am I supposed to move this big oaf with an injured arm? There is no way I can just drag him all the way. I should just leave him here, I’m wasting-.” 

The sounds of hooves made him jolt up, instinctively, he put himself between the lying man and the approaching horse, grunting softly how he had wished he had escaped when he had the chance instead, but the riderless black horse that came into view and came closer to nudge at the motionless man made him relax and breathe normally again. It wasn’t another predator, it was just the universe signaling him what he had to do. 

He sighed defeatedly as he stared at the limp figure on the floor. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The last thing Kageyama remembered was the loud scream and a very recognizable distress scent. It had been a calling to his inner self, all his body burst into flames at the idea of the little ginger Omega in danger. He didn’t know how, but the next thing he knew, he was flying through the forest and smashing his body against a wild animal. 

In barely seconds to react he was brawling against three wild and vicious dogs, but his Alpha was roaring loudly, no time to be scared about the situation, he had to make sure that the Omega was all right.

After the skirmish was over, he turned to see the relief in the Omega’s eyes, his Alpha’s instincts praising his actions, he had done well, the Omega was all right, he was alive, he was safe. Overwhelmed by the feeling of relief, everything went black, exhaustion, hunger and sleep deprivation playing against an already battered body. So, when he opened his eyes again to the sight of a fire crackling in what appeared to be a cave, with his wounds treated and covered, he could only wonder what had happened between his loss of consciousness and this very exact moment.

The incoming footsteps by his side made him reevaluate his decision of opening his eyes. He decided to remain silent with his eyes closed, just in case the person behind his treatment wasn’t an altruistic one, but more of an opportunistic man hoping for a favor from the crown. They were pretty close to the outskirts of the forest, after all.

“Still sleeping, huh?”

He recognized the voice, it was different from the teasing tone it always used, but it definitely was the Omega’s.

“What do I do now?… It’s getting dark to find another shelter.” He could hear the whining tone on the voice of the little man. Kageyama slightly opened one eye. The Omega had his back turned to him, he was tending to a piece of meat skewered by the fire; that explained the delicious aroma that was making him drool. “Maybe he won’t wake up till tomorrow? I could just camp here to make sure he survives the night and then leave early in the morning with his provisions. But what if his wounds get infected? Or the dogs find him unconscious? He could die if nobody finds him.”

It was endearing to see the little frustrated movements the Omega was doing as he rambled, especially when Kageyama understood that the ginger was worried about  _ him _ , well, he had also mentioned about leaving him alone and stealing his food and water, but, still, the important part was that he cared.

“So you are going to steal the food of a dying man. How noble of you.” Kageyama said sarcastically.

The Omega jumped out of his skin with a yelp, clutching his chest with his hand at the panic the words had caused.

“Why would you do that?!” He panted. “Do you want to kill me!?”

The Alpha laughed at the reaction, immediately regretting it at the stabbing pain at his side. The faces the Omega was doing weren’t helping at all to control the chuckles.

“And after all the trouble I went through to treat your wounds, that’s how you repay me? I could have left you stranded, you know? You should be showing more gratitude.” The ginger pouted as he crossed his arms, he was now noticing the bandaged forearm of the Omega. 

“Wounds I got after saving  _ you _ from those beasts, if I recall correctly.” Kageyama smugly argued back.

The Omega spluttered at the remark getting visibly angry. “Well, I never asked you to save me in the first place!”

“Well I never asked you to treat my wounds either!” He barked back.

He was starting to get pissed at the Omega now. Why was he being so rash and feisty? He understood if he behaved like that in the chase, it was supposed to be part of the game, but right now? After being rescued? Weren’t Omegas supposed to be caring and well behaved in front of their Alphas? 

Both glared at each other in silence, rage bubbling at each other's insides, waiting for the other to cave and give in. It was the same feeling as with the hunt, the desire to win against the other.

“Why are you being so difficult?” Kageyama sighed after he could no longer contain his rage. “Why can’t you just say thank you and get it over with?”

“Why can’t I…?” The Omega parroted slowly with a dumbfounded expression. “You want me to thank you?” The livid eyes and the high pitch exasperated tone on the Omega made any attempt at replying to be impossible. Kageyama could see the rage and fury practically burning up the small man. “What should I be grateful for? Tell me!” He shouted back as he stomped towards the dark haired man. “For taking me away from my family? For having spent every single day of my life worried about being trapped and sold to satisfy the lust of some biggotted Alpha? Oh! I know! I should say thank you for forcing me to participate in a torturing game of chase, with absolutely no way of winning, so I can spend the rest of my days imprisoned as a chew toy to satisfy the stupid pride of an even stupider Alpha!?” He was panting, his eyes angrily piercing Kageyama’s own, his breath came in short puffs as he finished his outburst, at barely inches from the Alpha’s face, who remained umoving as the enraged ginger spat each and every single word. 

The Omega leaned back and turned his back to the Alpha once more, making his way to sit by the fire. He picked up the meat and turned it over, so the other side would be roasted. He sighed heavily into the stillness quiet of the cave.

“So thank you, I guess, for showing an ounce of humanity when I was being attacked by a pack of dogs while trying to fight my way out of this nightmare.” He said in a stern quiet voice, followed only by the crackling of the fire.

Kageyama didn’t know what to reply. His body hurt, and this time it wasn’t only because of the previous physical scuffle. All this time, all the fun he was having, only for the Omega to hate it…  _ to hate him _ . He scratched his arm in silence, embarrassed as to what to say or feel. His pride was begging him to remain in silence, while the taut feeling in his chest begged him to console the Omega. 

“I’m… I’m sorry.” He said in a low voice. 

There was no reply from the orange haired man.

“And thank you.” He added quietly, staring at the rocky floor, unable to look at the other man’s figure. “For taking care of my wounds.” Besides his previous effort at making peace with his brother, this was the first time in his life that Kageyama was attempting to reach for someone else, the first time that he really wanted to be forgiven and make amends with someone. 

“Here.” The soft voice made Kageyama’s head snap up. The Omega was offering him one of the skewers with meat. “I bet you haven’t eaten since our last encounter.”

Kageyama nodded absentmindedly and grabbed the offered food while the ginger sat at the side of the fire, this time looking at the Alpha. He started eating slowly, calmed down, but clearly still upset by the previous outburst.

A deafening silence settled upon them. Kageyama stared at the meat in his hands and then at the ginger’s subtle movements. He was trembling. He noticed the muddled clothes, the dirt in his face and the clear signs of exhaustion on the other man’s features. If he hated the idea of the hunt so much...

“Can I ask you something?” The Alpha started with a little more confidence now, after the apparent peace offering. 

The other boy nodded shyly with his mouth full.

“Why did you do it?”

The Omega pondered while he finished swallowing.

“I don’t know. I guess I couldn’t just leave you there bleeding out, who knows-”

“No. I mean, why would you try to flee the country if you knew this was the punishment of you doing so.” Kageyama interrupted.

“Flee the-? What are you talking about?” The genuinely confused expression on the other boy’s face took Kageyama by surprise. He shouldn’t be having to explain the Omega why he was being held at the Cabin, now, should he?

“Well, your participation was… bought from the Cabin, right?” The Omega nodded, still confused. “That’s a place where they take those who do not abide by the laws, traitors, thieves and deserters. All acts of treason...” Kageyama slowly paused at the look the other man was giving him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked.

“Are you serious right now?” The question was so sternly made that Kageyama feared about answering truthfully, he decided it would be better to remain quiet. “You honestly don’t know about those places?” Kageyama just looked a little bit ashamed at the prodding. “Those are selling houses for Omegas that are trapped, kidnapped and taken away from the safety of their homes! There are no traitors there! Just poor, unlucky boys and girls who weren’t quick enough to escape from the Lodgers!” The aggressive tone of his voice made Kageyama rethink his next question.

“So when you said that you were taken from your family…?”

“I was caged and trapped trying to save my little sister when we went out to look for firewood so we wouldn’t freeze to death.” The white knuckles of his tightened fist shook as he retold his story. His voice grew softer as he continued. “Every single Omega that I know who is not lucky enough to be born with money in their families are sold for profit. Those who are not sold, live their entire lives fearing that someone else will take them away and sell them.” He waited for the realization to hit the other man. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve been told to justify your way of thinking, but believe me, trying to escape the country or living in it, it's just the same for us. We are treated like if we weren’t even human, like if we were mere objects to be sold and put on display.” The voice of the Omega came to low mumble.

Was it like that for every Omega? What about those that were bonded? He thought about his mother, the only Omega he had ever talked with. She had been happy right? Bonded Omegas got food on their plates, the promise of a family and they wouldn’t have to live in fear of being sold. It was what all Omegas wanted after all, an Alpha that would protect and take care of them. A litter of their own. 

“Wouldn’t it be better if you bonded with an Alpha then? That way you wouldn’t live in fear or hunger anymore.” He regretted the question the instant it left his lips. It was a self indulgent question, after all, a way to justify the pain that seeped from the Omega’s tale. A way to pretend that they were making the lives of the Omegas better from the moment of the bond onwards.

“Better?” The other chuckled roughly. “Why would it be better being a slave? Yeah, sure, maybe I wouldn’t get hungry from time to time, but I would much rather spend one night free and choose to do so, than a hundred well fed having to abide by every order an Alpha barked at me.” Kageyama could not help but notice the deep scorn reflected in those brown eyes.

“So you’d prefer to die before the idea of a bond? Is your freedom that important to you?” 

“Isn’t it to you?” The Omega retorted. 

The intense gaze of the ginger putting him in the spot. A shiver ran down his spine at the realization of such a simple answer. It was the first time Kageyama thought about it. It was so obvious. Of course it was. It was what made him, well, human. He’d never thought of what the implications of a bond mark would mean for an Omega; to be at the mercy of its instincts, crumbling at every single order of the author of that mark. He had always thought that it was how it was supposed to be, Alphas ruled while Omegas raised. It was what their instincts demanded, how he had been raised. Had he been wrong? 

He remained quiet as he took another bite from his dinner. It was too much to think about. It was as if he had tried to open a faucet for just a sip of water and a whole waterfall had poured down from it. What else did he not know about his own country? What other traditions were founded over the suffering and trampling of his people. He was going to be king, he had the power to change those things now, didn’t he? But the festival? He had had so much fun so far. If the Omega had  _ chosen _ to participate in it… would he have enjoyed it?

“So you have hated every single moment of this hunt, then.” He said mournfully, ashamed at himself. He wasn’t able to put a name to his feelings… Was it regret? He had a churned stomach at the thought of the Omega hating it… hating him. All the expectations he had had for the festival were torn apart by the realization that it had been all a lie from the beginning. There hadn’t been a challenge, he had just been chasing down a poor kidnapped boy, afraid to the bone of being a slave to his own instincts. He wasn’t going to be the one to relieve the loneliness of the prince, he would be one more of those who scorned him.

To his surprise, the Omega remained quiet and when he returned his gaze to the orange haired man, he noticed a bit of color in the tip of his ears before he spluttered in embarrassment.

“Of- of course! Who would have liked the idea of being chased down against his will?!” He stuttered.

“But all those challenges then?” The tone on the Alpha had become a little hopeful. “I thought that maybe you were having fun, after all?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. Something in the reaction of the Omega made him feel that maybe he wasn’t wrong after all.

“You were belittling me as an Omega! Of course I wanted to prove you wrong! I have my pride after all!” He said pouting childishly, the same blush now painting his cheeks.

Kageyama huffed. “You must think I’m another entitled Alpha, don’t you?”

“Well, if it weren’t for your last minute save from before, you certainly would have earned the title.” The other chuckled lightly.

Kageyama smiled at that. He looked at those brown eyes, wondering what else could he learn from the orange haired boy. It was the first time he had ever spoken so freely with an Omega. No. With any other person beside Oikawa or Iwaizumi and those had barely been full sentences at best. He found himself liking it. Wanting it. He wanted to keep knowing what else the small Omega could make him feel.

“You are really different from what I thought an Omega would be.” Kageyama smiled softly at the realization.

“Well, I can’t say that you aren’t what I thought a scary and intimidating Alpha would be." He said teasingly as he crossed his arms behind his head, a tiny blush as he avoided his gaze. "But I guess you were also kind of cool.” The Omega finished, smiling brightly at him, completely paralyzing Kageyama in return. 

If Kageyama had thought that the eyes of the ginger were something else, that damn smile would be the end of him. He took a hand to his face to hide the creeping blush that was tainting his cheeks. If this was the kind of reaction the man could take out from him with just a smile, the Alpha feared for what others could be coming as he got to know the ginger, but at the same time, he was eager to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fluffier chapter! It was time for the two of them to talk things out, wasn’t it? 
> 
> The next chapter should be faster to write as we are approaching the final chapters of the fic! I think we still have like 3 left, but as my OCD would trigger leaving it at 11, I probably might write an epilogue or add a final chapter so it ends up as an even number.
> 
> The good news is that I’m already thinking about my next fic! It’s still on the works, but I’m already excited about it. It won’t be in the Omegaverse genre, but if you like magic, action sequences and a completely out of character Haikyuu cast, then you may enjoy it hahahaha! 
> 
> Hope to see you in the next one!


	9. The challenged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I can’t believe we have hit the 5000 hit and 300 kudos mark!! I’m so thrilled and happy and thankful! You guys are the best! I really don’t deserve you!! Really!!
> 
> Thank you for your support, your comments and words of encouragement!! You are amazing!
> 
> I’ll be replying to your comments later, as I was too behind on the update already! (I tend to reply before updating new chapters so guests that are not subscribed may get notified of the update as well ;) )

Hinata was stealing looks at the Alpha every now and then. Like if he wasn’t able to make up his mind on what to do next. He kept on poking the fire as to seem occupied, even though both youngsters knew exactly how they were just avoiding facing each other due to how awkward the ambient of the cave had turned.

He hadn’t expected the other man to actually wake up so soon, nor to apologize to Hinata after he had confronted him about the injustices about being an Omega. He had been surprised about how nice it had felt, how it had settled a raging feeling he had been holding for a long time. He was still angry, of course, but this time he had been listened to, and more importantly, he had been acknowledged. Maybe that was what made Hinata look at the Alpha with different eyes, with less adamant eyes. Maybe there was a story behind the Alpha as there was a story behind Hinata. Maybe the Alpha was not just an  _ Alpha _ , but somebody as real as him, with his own hurdles and baggage to carry. Maybe, he could stop thinking about the Alpha as one, and see him just as human.

After their olive branch -in the form of a meat skewer- had been offered, Hinata and the other boy had shared words and stories by the fire while finishing their impromptu meal. He shouldn’t have wanted to know more about the Alpha, his mind warning him what a bad idea it was, to befriend the enemy, especially if he wanted to escape and steal his provisions, he shouldn’t be sharing them with him in the first place. But the more instinctual and curious part of Hinata just wanted to know more about the other boy. He kept being grateful and amazed by how the Alpha had just stepped in front of him and saved him from the pack of hounds. The haunting image of the blue eyed Alpha in all its terrifying glory beating the dogs in an almost feral state had given him shivers all evening long, both from fear and wonder.

Hinata had been struggling against the idea of leaving the Alpha alone in the cave and start looking out for a shelter for himself before the sun went completely down, but after the Alpha assured him of his intentions for a truce for the night, so both could regain their strength to continue the hunt the next day, he had apparently relaxed; up to the moment the perv had decided to bring in the improper questions.

It all had started when the conversation became less mundane, and a little more personal. To Hinata’s mortification, the Alpha had mentioned how different his scent was, prompting a very embarrassed and flustered Hinata to demand what he had meant and why was he smelling him in the first place, only for the equally bashful Alpha to reply about the scenting token he had been given to trail him down. Both youngsters avoided looking into each other. The Omega trying to man up to the question asked and the Alpha genuinely worried about having done something to truly upset the Omega.

With one last glance that met the intense looking blue eyes, Hinata sighed heavily. He knew he shouldn’t get flustered about things like that, that he was supposed to show how defiant and not weak he was in front of the Alpha, but ever since they had started  _ talking _ , things had become somehow... weird. He wasn’t able to put a name to it, it was more like a feeling, like every time he noted the Alpha staring at him, he would perceive how deep and lonely the blue in the other man’s eyes were. Or how genuinely ignorant he was of the Omega’s suffering, or how every time he tried to say something it would sound rough and prickly, but once Hinata managed to get out the real meaning behind the words, he understood that it wasn’t because of the demeanor of the Alpha, but more like the difficulty he had with the words themselves. If one thing he had picked up on the brief interaction with the Alpha; it was that he wasn’t very good with people.

“You don’t have many friends, do you?” He ventured, trying to break down the stuffiness of the room.

“Hah?!” The squawk he received as a reply made Hinata laugh. “Shut up, don’t laugh!” The other boy grumbled angrily.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He managed between giggles. “I should rephrase it.” He coughed as he regained his composure before continuing. “What I wanted to ask is if you had had much contact with Omegas before.”

The silent and embarrassed stare accompanied by an angry brooding and crossing arms was all he got from the Alpha.

Hinata sighed. So he had assumed correctly, the Alpha was just… awkward. Like a kid first venturing in a candy store, full of awe and no restrictions. He sighed fondly. “Asking about other people’s scents is improper, Alpha.” He said, swallowing his own embarrassment. The other man visibly wilted, as if he had been scolded. “But since I plan to steal your food and supplies first thing in the morning, I guess it’s fair that I grant you three questions about Omegas. What do you say?” He finished with a genuine grin.

The face of the Alpha lit up and that made Hinata’s inner Omega respond accordingly. It was scarily endearing how much he was enjoying the other man’s company. He calmed himself down, forcing to remember that he was talking with one of the  _ hunters _ , a man who could put an end to his freedom if he so much desired so… But on the other hand, wasn’t he feeling safe in his presence as well? He decided to ignore the weird feeling at his stomach and just kept on smiling at the other man.

“Any question?” The Alpha asked, excited eyes flared to life at the idea. “Even improper ones?” He lowered the voice as he became shy once more.

“Ye-yeah!” He tried to sound confident, kind of regretting his offer already.

“Then, about your scent. Why do you not smell like this?” He took out from his pocket a crumpled orange handkerchief. Oh yes, Hinata was already regretting it.

“Well…” He hesitated to answer, if he gave away how he had been hiding his scent so he could not be tracked, it would put him and the other Omegas at peril. But, it was probably just this hard headed Alpha the only one who didn’t already know about the hiding of their scents. Defeated by the promise of replying to the other man’s questions, (and the excitement on the other boy’s face) he rubbed the back of his head while looking away from the Alpha. “I’ve been mixing my scent with forest plants, the smellier the better. That way it gets harder to track me.” 

The other man was staring at him intensely, nodding as Hinata spoke.

“But… do you normally smell like this?” He asked, shoving the handkerchief closer to Hinata, looking as if the Omega he held the answers to the secrets of the universe.

He sniffed the handkerchief, suddenly becoming too aware of the fact that he was smelling his own scent. “Yeah.” He shrugged a bit embarrassed. “That’s me all right.”

He expected the Alpha to react disappointed or confused or something, anything really but the smile he had now on full display as he looked at the handkerchief and then to Hinata. 

“Good.” Was all the Alpha said. “I really like it.” 

The hotness on Hinata’s neck and face was something comparable to the flames that were dancing in front of them. He hugged his knees and burrowed his face between them, wishing for the earth to just swallow him. But for some even weirder reason, the idea of the Alpha liking the scent had gotten him so happy inside that he had the urge to stand up and dance or hug or just smile at him, instead he groaned weakly.

“What’s wrong with you?” He managed softly from the safety of his knees, not really expecting an answer. 

“Second question.” The Alpha demanded.

“No way!” Hinata shot up and whined, his face still red as it had been before. “That counted as two!” There was no way he was going to leave the Alpha a chance to mortify him even more, he couldn’t go back on his word now, but he could surely trick him into reducing the torture.

Fortunately, the Alpha took the bait and nodded, his eyebrows furrowed, accepting the words of the Omega as they came. Apparently the Alpha was taking the task seriously, as he kept on scrunching his brows together as he clearly appeared to be choosing carefully the next question for him. Hinata just stared back, wondering how he was going to make him even more uncomfortable than before. He doubted the Alpha could. 

“What’s your name?”

How wrong he was.

Hinata spluttered loudly. If he had been eating or drinking something, he would have certainly choked on it and died in the spot.

“That’s not an Omega question!” He retorted flustered, almost yelling.

The Alpha stared at him blankly. He cocked his head, his eyebrows in a scowl.

“You are an Omega. Asking your name makes it an Omega question.” He reasoned.

Maybe if Hinata had been a smarter person he would have been able to come up with a comeback, he may have said that it was a personal question, from the person. Not common knowledge that he should have from the way Omega’s differentiated from Alphas or whatnot, but, as Hinata was not a smart person, he ended up agreeing with the Alpha.

“That may be true.” He swallowed nervously, looking for a way out. Giving his name was certainly something he shouldn’t and wouldn’t do. How stupid would that be?! “If you keep your word on the truce, I’ll answer that.” He just intended to give himself more time. He was going to be long gone before the Alpha could ask him again in the morning.

“That was not the deal.” The scowl had grown in intensity.

“Well, looking how scary looking your face is, now it is.” He said firmly. 

But somehow, even if Hinata had been smarter, he probably would have still caved. There was a pull, a feeling, a desire for the Alpha to know more about him. And a lingering equally strong feeling coming from Hinata as well.

\-----

  
  


Kageyama woke up to the unfamiliar sound of something rumbling. It took him a couple of blinks to remember where he was and what had happened for him to end up in the rocky uncomfortable floor of a cave. It was dark, the embers of the fire had already been reduced to fainted lit ashes, barely providing any lighting to the interior of the place. His body was still aching, a little less now thanks to the first aid provided by the Omega. He quickly scanned the room, looking for the ginger head, his heart taut as he couldn’t find him, when the rumbling sound that reverberated at his side made him notice the warmth that seeped through. He turned his head to the body lying by his side, a quizzical look on his face trying to figure out when had the Omega attached himself to his side.

The moonlight that seeped through the cracks of the stone marked the pale skin of the slumbering boy and Kageyama could not refrain himself from just staring. How different and frail he looked as he slept without a care in the world. The alarming contrast between the feisty ginger and the innocence that waved from the Omega’s face. He smiled fondly, completely entranced by the figure lying at his side.

Thoughts of their previous conversation still haunted him. How much the Omega hated the idea of a bond, how he had despised the idea of being connected to an Alpha. He scrunched his nose as he noticed the bandages on his thin arms, the scraped knees and bruised limbs, it made him wonder what other things he didn’t know about how his kindred had treated the likes of him, how much the Omega had suffered throughout his life and how, even at this moment, he was still being punished by their status. But, even as he pondered about the Omegas' injustice, Kageyama still couldn’t fail the hunt. He was going to be the country’s king and for that, he needed a successful first game. The pressure of the throne was too much for letting the little Omega go, and even if he did, nothing assured the safety of the boy. It’s not like the country would have a change of heart from just his encounter with the Omega, furthermore, the other Alphas playing the same hunt that he was, were not thinking about this whole experience as more than a game. 

The image of Atsumu specifically claiming the Omega made his Alpha growl. His scowl was fixated on his face as the sour taste of letting the other Alpha hunting the ginger made him grimace in distaste. He really didn’t like the idea. No. Scratch that. He really loathed the idea.

What could he do, though? He could help the Omega climb up the fence and grant him his freedom… 

The more he thought about the idea, the more wrongly he felt about it. He didn’t want that either. Was he okay with just letting the boy go? Help him cross the fence and never see him again? Was he really okay with just letting the first person to ever challenge him like an equal go? To let the boy who taunted him, challenged him, who bickered back, who spoke his mind freely, who made his instincts burn as intensely as they had, to just disappear from his life forever? He was being selfish, maybe, but now that he had met him, he wanted the Omega in his life. 

The weird noise cut his rambling thoughts as he noticed it had increased in volume and frequency, almost as it became a constant sound in the background. Furrowing his eyebrows he seemed to notice that it was actually coming from the Omega. He leaned towards the sleeping boy as he tried to get a closer look at the origin of the noise. That’s when he felt it; the vibratory feeling against the side in contact with the ginger’s back. Was that normal? Was the boy in pain? Was he shivering? Was he cold? 

It didn’t sound like an illness, or as if the boy was in pain, but he certainly had never heard it before. 

“Oi…” He reached for the other man’s cheek and poked it, trying to wake him up. “Oi… Are you… ok?” He asked in confusion. His lack of experience with Omegas -people in general- made this whole interaction an unknown territory.

The boy stirred in his sleep, swatting the hand of the Alpha away as he grumbled incoherently, trying very hard not to be awakened.

“Oi! You!” He grabbed him by his shoulder and shook him. “Omega!” Kageyama was now whisper-shouting. “There is a weird noise coming from you.” His tactful way of expressing himself was truly endearing.

That apparently made the sleeping boy regain consciousness. As he mumbled a drawled “what?” before becoming completely still and silent, except for the still vibratory sounds coming from him. Kageyama was about to say something else when all noise came to a sudden stop and the shriek of the Omega replaced the calm that had enveloped them before.

“Why are you so close?!” The orange boy scooted back in quick desperate motions.

“Me!? I haven’t moved! You are the one who apparently came to sleep next to me!” He squawked back suddenly, offended about the accusations.

“Stay where you are!…. You… you… weirdo!” It was a relief that the Alpha couldn’t see his bright red face showcasing his current embarrassment. “Were you taking advantage while I was sleeping?!” He asked as he frantically rubbed his hand on his neck, as if checking everything was fine with it.

“What are you talking about?! It was you who woke me up with your weird noises!” Kageyama barked leaning forwards and gesturing at him. “What was that all about?” He asked then, half curious, half angered. 

The Omega didn’t answer, his mind was too occupied trying not to combust from all the mortifying information he was receiving.

“Are you sick?” This time the tone of Kageyama showed shades of concern.

The Omega groaned loudly as he curled himself shielding his face with his hands.

“I’m fine!” He managed to get out in a little bit of an unhinged tone. “It’s something completely normal.” He mumbled then, trying to sound confident but completely failing at doing so.

Thankfully, the Alpha appeared to take his word for it as he just stared blankly at him.

Both young men remained silent, the peace replaced by whatever the Omega was doing with his fidgeting body. Kageyama looked at him expectantly, waiting for the other to reach him, suddenly too aware of the distance between them two. Was the Omega longing to lay next to him as he was? Should Kageyama ask him if he so desired? 

“Do-”

“It’s called purring.” The Omega interrupted.

“Okay.” Kageyama replied dryly, not knowing what the word meant, nor what the ginger was referring to.

“The sounds.” The boy provided, noticing the confusion in the Alpha. “From before. The noises I was making. They are called purrs.” He said in a timid voice, completely avoiding the other’s gaze. 

Kageyama blinked at him. What was he supposed to reply to that? 

“That’s your final question!” The Omega shouted and proceeded to launch himself to the floor showing his back to Kageyama. 

“But I didn’t ask that.”

“I’m not giving you my name, so consider it settling for it.”

“But I-”

“Good night!” The Omega yelled in a final, almost warning tone.

Kageyama looked at the pale figure across the cave. It was funny how much the Omega imposed his presence for someone so small. He chuckled at his own thought as his mind came to a decision.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Hinata barely slept a wink after his sudden awakening by the Alpha. He had been so embarrassed about the whole incident, but mostly, he was so desperately confused about the other boy. Somehow, during the night, Hinata stupidly had approached the other sleeping teen, lay by his side and slept soundly, warmed up by the Alpha’s body. If that hadn’t been mortifying enough, what had him unable to remain calm about the whole situation was that he had been caught purring. He had been  _ purring.  _ During his whole life, Hinata distinctly remembers having purred twice, both times when he was a child and only thanks to his mother's embrace, so why, why did his body keep on betraying him and acting on its own accord? He hated his instincts. He hated how calm and safe his inner Omega must have felt sleeping by the boy to actually make him purr out loud. He groaned once more as he remembered vividly how warm and rested he had felt the moment he had been woken up. 

He whined loudly as he pulled his hair with enough force to settle him down. There was no point in dwelling on his weird feelings and confusion now. He had just to keep on going, find another way out of the forest; now that he knew that the grounds were sealed off by the wooden fence, he should find a way to go over it, or maybe try to find where the fence started, there had to be a door, right? Otherwise how did they get  _ in _ in the first place? He just had to continue moving, all that mattered right now was to keep on going.

He sighed resignedly as he emptied the horse’s satchel and filled his own pouch with the Alpha’s provisions. A part of him started to feel guilty about leaving the other man without anything for food. He stared at the river, thinking that if the Alpha could get access to water, that was everything he would need. He had to be quick now. He had left the cave when the other boy was still asleep and with the coming of a new day, their little truce would be over, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

He took the last piece of bread from the horse’s satchel and stared at it long enough for his guilt to make him have second thoughts.

“Ok. You win. I’ll just drop the bread and get out of here.” He said mostly to himself, his Omega happy at his decision.

With cautious stepping, he peeped into the cave once more, noticing the still sleeping Alpha by the now extinguished fire. He hated how he felt somehow disappointed at that. He blamed it to stress, tiredness and clear symptoms of him going insane.

“So you weren’t gone after all.” 

The voice made him jump in place. 

“What, you thought I would leave before saying my goodbyes?” Hinata said smugly as if it hadn’t been his first idea in the first place. 

“For someone so feisty, you certainly get flustered quickly.” The Alpha replied with a cocky grin. “Getting so riled up after asking your name yesterday… What? Are you scared of me or something?” He started to raise up, his wounds clearly not being an issue for him anymore. 

Hinata was taken aback by the sudden confrontation, self conscious of the events of the night before. “You think I’m afraid of a beaten up Alpha? Please!” He tried to pass off his discomfort for smugness.

“You are so cocky, aren’t you.” The Alpha chuckled. “As if a dog bite would make me lose sight of my prey.” The lopsided grin was fueling Hinata’s instincts, reacting so well to the other man’s taunting, getting fired up at the prospect of his challenge. 

“And apparently you forgot how many times I have left you behind already. It’s a shame that you are hurt now, I guess it won’t be as satisfying as before when I beat you.” He chuckled back, turning on his heels as he decided to make his way out. 

“Beat me?” The voice of the Alpha came with a sudden chill on Hinata’s spine.

The Omega froze in place. All his senses were yelling at him to escape, to run, to flee on the spot, the amount of pressure the Alpha was releasing was enough to make him flinch at the idea of facing him. Going against the natural response of every muscle in his body, he turned to face the Alpha. 

“I don’t lose.” The smirk on the Alpha’s face and the intensity of his eyes fired up the nervous system of the ginger _. _ “I’m going to hunt you down.” He pointed his finger at Hinata’s chest and a new wave of pressure hit the Omega directly. He had let himself forget that the raven boy was, before than anything, an  _ Alpha _ .

Hinata held his breath. The duality of his instincts fighting for dominance until his own lips curved back up in a smile as excitement and the feeling of something  _ else _ coursed through his body. 

“Bring it on then.” He challenged back, eyes locked on the raven head and his own smirk bloomed back at the Alpha. He threw at him the bread he was holding as he declared his own challenge up in the air. As the Alpha caught it and they met stares once again, Hinata’s piercing eyes locked onto the blue ones. “Hinata. Hinata Shoyo.” He said smugly, hands on hips, the whole display, knowing perfectly well how crazy giving his name to a man who had just threatened to hunt him down sounded, but the feeling that consumed his inner Omega was thriving from the challenge. “So you never forget the name of the Omega that beat you.” He finished as intensely as the Alpha had shot at him first. He turned and disappeared into the morning light coming from the entrance of the cave.

Kageyama slid down the wall, coming to rest his head against it as his hand covered his smile. This feeling, his rapidly beating heart, the excitement and anxiety of watching his prey leave. Everything felt like too much. 

After last night, he had come to the decision that there was no way he was letting the Omega, no,  _ Hinata _ escape. He was doing this to protect him, even if the Omega wouldn’t see it at first. He would end up thanking him. He would show him how a great Alpha he could be for him. He would come to understand with time and in the end, he would  _ choose _ not to leave Kageyama’s side. Selfish or not, he would end with the Omega by his side.

He let out a chuckle as his head came back down to hang limply on his shoulders. If he was being completely honest though, right now he was thinking more on how he was dying to just make the ginger swallow his words.

“Hinata Shoyo…” He tried the name out loud as his smile reached his eyes. “I’ll find you, just you wait.”

  
  


\-----

  
  


Having left the safety of the cave they had shared for the past three days had been a horrible mistake. In the spawn of barely an afternoon, Sugawara and Oikawa had already had close calls with hunters on two occasions, barely dodged a fallen tree as they escaped, a very suspicious mushroom as lunch and still no signs of water nearby. 

In their first run in with their predators, they managed to hide from a very distracted and very grinning Daishou, now making his way through the forest mounting his copper horse with a beautiful brunette girl across his lap. The girl barely moved from her spot, probably already under the influence of their bonding mark. For her to be as obedient as she was, either she was a very submissive Omega or she wasn’t fighting the bond mark at all. Not that it would matter once they made their way out of the forest though. If she kept on being as content as she was, then the Alpha wouldn’t have any trouble to seal their mate mark once her heat came. 

Glad for the opportunity to just watch from afar how one of the Alphas stepped out of the game already having claimed his game, they kept on going for a while, only to hear from not so far away distinctive rushing of foliage and debris signaling the approach of other hunters. They set into a mad dash, dabbing their fingers in the mint they took from their previous shelter and rubbing it on their body, hoping that it would be enough for the hunters to lose their trails, if they had had any.

They found a crevice between two rocks big enough for cover and with the help of nearby bushes, they managed to scurry inside and remain hidden, as long as the Alphas weren’t to hear them or smell them, they would be okay.

They were currently holding their breaths as they tried to even them, as their hiding spot was slowly being left behind by the pair of roaming Alphas. 

“We lost it.” One of them said in a bored like tone.

“Well, if you weren’t so obsessed over finding the pine tree scented Omega and actually put in some effort to look for this one, we may haven’t lost the trail in the first place, ‘Samu.” The other replied angrily as he hit his brother’s arm with the back of his hand.

“Shut up! I’m not obsessed.” Osamu huffed as Atsumu dramatically rolled his eyes at his twin.

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s go back to the last sighting of it. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to pick up the scent there.”

“Why do you even care?” Osamu asked, lifting his eyebrow as they turned. “I thought you wanted the ginger.” Atsumu growled subtly at that. “Why would you want to chase an Omega that hasn’t even made an effort in the first place? Lame.” 

Atsumu just remained silent, grumbling incoherent words about his previous defeat.

“Man up!” Osamu scolded him. “Just because Kageyama beat you once you are just letting him go?” Osamu smirked at him. “Talk about lame.”

“Shut up!” The other Alpha yelled back. “Of course I want to chase the fucking shrimp!” He started to slightly shake his fists. “You should have seen him, ‘Samu! It was so cool!” His eyes shined at the image of the Omega jumping back at the river. “Imagine all the different ways we could chase and make him jump! It would be so fun!”

Osamu sighed at his twin’s antics. “Sometimes I tend to forget what a child you are.” He shook his head. “So? What’s stopping you?” 

Atsumu recovered from his small fangirling moment, a little somber than before. “Kageyama didn’t come back last night nor the previous to the camping site and I haven’t been able to pick up the scent from the Omega since our last encounter.” He stopped walking and paused to look at his brother. “Do you recall the scent of blood coming from the area of the riverside?” 

Osamu held his hand in his chin. He remembered Atsumu mentioning it, but as he had been on the trail of the grey haired, pine scented Omega, he hadn’t been really listening that attentively. He decided to just nod at his twin. 

“I’m not a hundred percent sure about it, but I have this feeling it was the shrimpy’s. It had this citric tone to it.”

“You think that maybe..?” Osamu left the question hanging in the air.

Atsumu sighed defeatedly. “All I’m saying is that maybe I’ll have to look for a different prey, we are nearing the endgame and I haven’t got a glimpse of the one we are tracking. They may surprise us. That’s all.” He held his entangled hands at the back of his head as he continued his stroll through the forest.

Osamu didn’t say anything at that, knowing very well the possible outcomes of the smell of Omega’s blood in the air. It was either the result of a successful bond being created… or an unfortunate accident. It wasn’t something new, after all. Sometimes, it would happen. A particularly frail Omega that wouldn’t make it past the third night, an Alpha that may have been a little too rough towards an Omega who refused to be bonded, or sometimes the terrain would not be forgiving and a bad footing would end the hunt a little earlier. Accidents. They tended to happen.

“So, your obsession with the pine tree one. What’s the deal?” Atsumu decided to cut the other man’s unpleasant thoughts with his turn to tease.

“It’s not an obsession! Shut your trap!” Osamu couldn’t help the raise in his voice or color. 

“That’s right, you were just impressed at how... What was it again? Scolded you?” Atsumu was truly enjoying the many expressions his flustered brother was doing.

“I- uh- he- Augh! Shut up! You weren’t there! I was just shocked at how he talked back at me, that’s all! It’s not like I was scared about him, ok?! I was surprised! Stop with that grinning, and get back to tracking, will you?!” He growled loudly and smacked the other’s head.

Atsumu just chuckled loudly, having so much fun at his brother’s expense, that he was totally unaware that he was passing by the exact spot where his new prey was hiding. The shaky silver haired Omega had his hands clasped against his mouth, trying hard to control his beating heart and sharing tearful looks at his companion after eavesdropping the conversation between both Alphas. He wasn’t sure, and wanted to believe it wasn’t the case, but the description of the Omega in question was probably Hinata, and the idea of his blood scent being the one the Alphas had picked up gave him a horrible stomach ache.

The Omegas remained sat, hidden under the disguise of rocks and foliage, waiting for the spicy Alpha scent to leave their close boundaries, grateful that their quick touch up at his scent glands had made their apparent escape possible. 

“Oikawa… did you hear them?” Sugawara asked him in a whisper, having difficulties himself to articulate his words.

The prince nodded with a sad look in his eyes. He knew it wasn’t sure that they were talking about Hinata, and even if they did, it didn’t mean that the other Omega was indeed hurt. And what was what they had mentioned about Kageyama? He had beaten Atsumu on its pursuit of the Omega? Had Kageyama done something to Hinata? If Kageyama had gone full Alpha on him… He shouldn’t be dwelling on this. Not now. If the Alphas had mentioned the riverside, they should make it to the river, that way, they would probably find the answers themselves… Even if they weren’t sure of wanting to.

“There is no guarantee that it’s Hinata, Suga. Don’t think like that, it will only make it more difficult to get out of here.” Oikawa reassured the other male. “We must be close to the river, once there, we will find answers and the way out of this forest.” He said with a convincing smile. 

“You are right.” Suga stood up, stretching his hand towards Oikawa to help him stand up. “One task at a time.”

“One task at a time.” Oikawa repeated fondly.

They kept on walking in the same direction they had been previously, away from the twins and into unknown territory. They were making good distance from the last sighting of the twins, until they reached the edge of the trail they had been on. If they wanted to continue in that direction, they would have to either hike down a very steep incline or try to find a way around it. Deciding for a safer way to get them both down, they started to make their way around it, only for the terrain to give way and drag them both down the ledge. They rolled their way down the incline, hitting the floor unceremoniously and heavily.

With groans and curses both Omegas stood up, only for Oikawa to flinch at the pain on his right knee that made him stumble down almost immediately. Sugawara noticed it and tried to help him stand up, only for Oikawa to reject his hand.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” He said as he tried to stand up once again and immediately gritted his teeth at the pain as he put a little amount of pressure on his right leg. “I’ll manage. We can’t stop now.” He said between winces. 

“Oikawa, stop, let me help.” Suga pleaded, quickly going under the other, locking Oikawa’s arm around his neck. “Let’s look for a hiding spot for now. Then we will decide what to do.”

Oikawa couldn’t help but agree. It’s not like he was able to run away if they were to be found now. They needed to lay low. 

“So much for being the reliable one.” He chuckled softly as he swallowed his pride and let Suga carry half his weight as they made their way out of the rubble. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


Oikawa was hating how useless he was feeling. After threading carefully through the woods, the pain on his knee had been too much to bear, but he kept on going, pushing his injury to his limit, swallowing the pain and effort it had become just to put one step in front of the other. Everything got even more complicated when Suga picked up a weird scent. It wasn’t strong enough, but he was almost sure it was an Alpha lurking somewhere close. At this point, Suga was mostly dragging Oikawa along and the noise they were making certainly would be picked up by whoever was near, and the strain on the Omega’s knee was becoming more and more limiting for the brunette. 

They spotted a fallen down tree with its roots sticking up from the ground forming an elevated hiding place they could use. Suga threw Oikawa under it and begged the other to remain silent motioning at his lips as he tried to keep down the nervousness he was feeling. He started to lean back but Oikawa grabbed his wrist out of desperation shaking his head furiously. He wasn’t letting his first Omega friend sacrifice himself to give him a chance just because he had been careless enough to get a busted knee. If they were catching Suga, they would have to go over him first. 

“Oikawa, please, I’m just-” But he was pulled by Oikawa to the inside of their shelter hugging him tightly.

“Please don’t leave.” He pleaded. 

“Oikawa, if I don’t do this, they may find you.” He whispered back softly. “I promised I would help you-”

“You won’t be of any help if you get caught!” He hugged him tighter.

Suga stilled before he chuckled softly. He grabbed Oikawa’s shoulders and pushed him back gently, locking him in a warm stare. “Then I won’t get caught. Trust me. I’ll just divert the scent away from here and I’ll be back for you, ok?”

Oikawa looked away, not entirely convinced by the other Omega’s words. 

“And I’m not even sure it’s an Alpha yet. It’s just a precaution, a way to protect ourselves in case the scent comes from one.”

Apparently that did the trick as Oikawa nodded softly letting the other Omega stand up.

“I’ll be right back, trust me. Don’t worry about it.” His warm smile forced Oikawa to copy the gesture, even if it trembled at the corners. 

He felt so small, unable to do something about it, forced to just wait and watch the back of his friend leave him behind. A taut stomach fearing for the safety of his friend and a sweat down his spine just from the anxiety of being left alone. He grabbed his right arm tightly, trying to regain some sense of safety.

As the sound of footsteps disappeared from his earshot, he noticed how quiet the forest had become. Evening was approaching fast and he became jumpier by the minute, tensing at every sound, at every twig shaken by the wind, fearing that the next one it wouldn’t be just nature running its course, but someone else. He started to create different scenarios in his head, trying to occupy his mind with something else but the thoughts of why Suga was taking so long, or how the inability to actually track the time the Omega was taking in returning was making him panic.

The sudden familiar crunching of leaves at the distance caught his attention. From the rhythm and its consistency it would appear that whoever was making its way through the forest appeared to be alone and definitely coming towards him. He tried to pick up the scent, but it was a weird mix, something like what Suga had previously mentioned. Like if it had been mixed, cloyed with other scents. He breathed it deeply once more and tensed at the horrible realization; it wasn’t Suga’s. It had the spiciness of an Alpha all over it.

He grabbed a rock close to his chest and changed positions so he could fight if he needed. He whined involuntarily as the weight shift forced his knee in a weird position and his heart stopped as he noticed the steps stopping as well, horribly close to his hiding spot. The hunter was coming from the direction of Oikawa’s back, but the only way for him to actually get a glimpse of the Omega was coming directly in front of him, going around the fallen tree’s roots and peeping into the space left by them. He was ready. He would throw the rock at the Alpha directly and crawl and slash and bite if necessary for his freedom.

He tensed once more as the steps were now circling the elevated roots, he gave a deep breath and prepared for the worse, remembering all his lessons on how to take down bigger opponents even when disabled. The steps were getting closer. He was prepared. The Alpha’s hand came to view as he grabbed one of the roots to peek inside the shelter and Oikawa’s heart fell to his stomach when the eyes of the other man locked eyes with him.

“... Oikawa?”

The smile on the ginger’s face was like a balm to his anxious heart. He released all his tension as he fell to his knees when he noticed how perfectly safe and happy to see him the other Omega was. Hinata was alive and well. And more importantly… He was there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the time I took to update this… it turns out the light cold only got worse and I had to lay in bed for a couple of days, but now I’m fine! (I started feeling very bad, thankfully I got tested and it wasn’t Corona, remember to wear a mask everybody!) So expect the updates to be a lot more frequent!
> 
> Also, I was being a coward and had still not decided for what route to move the story along to its final arc, so I took some extra time to decide on the next steps and I’m happy with what I decided. The plot was going to be the same, but how it got there would have changed. I’ll never be sure if I made the best decision, but…. It’s the magic of creating something, only you know what other paths it could have taken.
> 
> See you in the next update! (Hopefully it won’t take more than 10 days this time!)


	10. Stories and Understandings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading this story! You are the best! I hope you continue enjoying what is to come! 
> 
> Thank you for your comments, your sweet words of encouragement and your opinions and critiques! I love to read them and learn from them! I love you guys!
> 
> Yay! I managed to keep it under a week… (Well, according to my clock anyways) Still! Sorry if it was too long! I must confess that I took some time to start writing the beginning of my next fanfic (I couldn’t resist! I’m sorry!) but I promise I will finish this before posting it! There are only a few chapters left, so, enjoy!!

The heartbeat pulsing in his ears, his breath intakes as he tried to push down the adrenaline and the insistent footsteps that had become impossible to shake off his back were making him lose control of his emotions. He was exhausted, underfed and clearly not up to the challenge.

He skidded along the loose muddy floor, trying to get some traction under his feet following the sharp turn he made after having smacked his previously scented fingers against the bark of the tree he was using as pivot. At this point he feared he wouldn’t be able to lose his trackers, but he would make sure to lead them as far away from Oikawa as he could. 

Sugawara huffed as his feet threatened to give up. Apparently the predators had taken the bait and were now closing the gap. He hated having been right about the previous scent, but at the same time, he was feeling happy about being helpful and reliable for once. After a whole life of following rules and conforming to his gender and his family, it felt thrilling to put his life on the line for a decision he had made on his own. 

He turned his head back to see if he could catch a glimpse of whoever was following him, but a concealed root poking out of the ground brought his whole body to an immediate halt as his right foot got tangled in it, prompting him to crash head first onto the muddied forest ground.

With barely time to react or to steady himself up, he tried to shake his foot free from the clutches of mother nature and crawled up to a standing, but it was already too late. Getting to his side with an alarming speed, he saw the two Alphas flanking him with their arms stretched out, blocking his retreat. In a final desperate attempt, he grabbed one end of the root and stomped it hard with enough force to snap it, bringing it to the back of his head as he prepared to use it as a weapon. He was not going without a fight.

He locked eyes with the now approaching Alpha, brown eyes wide open in surprise at the Omega’s antics, clearly not expecting this turn of events at all.

“I dare you to come any closer!” Sugawara snarled, as he waved and brandished the piece of wood in front of him as a warning. “I’m not scared of you!”

  
  


\-----

  
  


Oikawa was drinking the offered water as if he hadn’t had a single drop of water in his life, which, given his circumstances, it was kinda accurate. The surprise encounter with the other boy had brought so much excitement, that all the previous repressed emotions he had been pushing down during the course of the hunt, had come back up at double the intensity, without him able to stop them. He had cried out in the ginger’s arms, clinging desperately to the other’s calming pets, knowing that if they were to release their calming pheromones they would become a beacon in the forest. The ginger had bit back his anger at how he had to repress the most natural and probably only instincts that he still enjoyed from being an Omega.

After the prince had calmed down, with no more tears to spill, Hinata had offered him the water jokingly telling him to replenish fluids, as he took a look at the prince’s knee injury. Oikawa flinched and Hinata winced for him at the sight of the now purple-bluish and really swollen kneecap.

“Oikawa, this is bad.” Hinata said as he inspected his satchel for the remaining stuff he hadn’t used when he had healed the Alpha. He tried not to think too hard on how the other was doing now that he had left him, still pretty injured, back in the cave. “I’ll go look for a branch to splint it. Try not to drink all the water in one go.” He smiled at the brunette.

Hinata came back as quickly as he left and started to snap and secure the branches to the sides of Oikawa’s knee. As he wrapped the bandages Oikawa just stared at him with so many questions that he didn’t know where to start. He wondered if the Omega had really met his brother, how Hinata had fared out in these past days, what was the story behind his now bandaged arms and bruised body, where had he gotten the provisions from, and most importantly… Why was his scent Alpha-ish?

He decided to begin with the easiest one to pose.

“What happened to you?” Hinata asked before he could make up his mind.

As always, Hinata kept on surprising him.

“We were trying to make our way to the river when the ground gave way-” Oikawa started.

“We?” Hinata asked stopping his work to look intensely at him instead.

“Yeah. Suga and I.” He replied a little tense. 

“You are together?!” He asked in a relieved emotional tone, his expectant grin impossibly wider. “Where is he now? Is he okay?” He leaned closer to Oikawa in his excited nervousness.

Oikawa bit his lip worriedly. He didn’t have the answers for that, he just had the wish for him to be alright.

“He smelled a weird scent before leaving me here and he went to investigate it.” Hinata deflated at that. Yeah. He wasn’t feeling that chipper about it either. “Don’t worry!” He said quickly patting the ginger’s shoulder and faking his biggest smile. “I’m sure he is already on his way back here! He probably just smelled you earlier.”

“Me?” Hinata asked quickly, confused.

“Well, you have a weird Alpha kind of smell coming from you. Suga mentioned it was a weird scent, kinda mixed.” Oikawa shrugged, trying to convince both of them. “So it was probably just that. Nothing to worry.” Maybe it was time to go with a more complex follow up question. “Now that we are on the topic, though. Why do you smell like that?”

He couldn’t help noticing how still the other boy had become. Something was not right.

“Hinata? Are you okay?” He grabbed on the ginger’s shoulder making him jump and pull at the bandages on his knee, effectively making Oikawa whine from the pain.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Hinata said repeatedly quite flustered as he tried his best to ease the tension from the bandages and reapply the wrappings. 

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” He winced as he rubbed the area and immediately regretted it. It was better to leave Hinata to the job. He sighed as the other kept on working. “But seriously, what happened to you Hinata?”

The boy stared at Oikawa silently. His mind filled with emotions about the previous days, all too intense to let him reply to the seemingly easy question that Oikawa had asked. How could he speak about his encounters with the blue eyed Alpha without mentioning the weird feelings he was having about the chase or about the Alpha himself. How could he explain without making it look like he had completely lost it. How could he face Oikawa, an Omega trying to fight for equality and freedom for all of them, without revealing that he had felt the need to chase the other man, to challenge him, to go after the Alpha. How could he explain the moment when he was cornered and about to be bitten, how his most inner desires had come to beg for the bond and reacted so negatively when the Alpha had decided to let him go. How could he tell a man suffering from hunger, thirst, pain and fear about he enjoying a game that was meant as torture for any other participant. How could he be excited about the game when his own body was beaten up, bloodied and bruised. 

It was not right. But he wasn’t able to deny it either. He felt embarrassed about his feelings. Ashamed about having them. He was convinced that there was something wrong with him and he dreaded that revealing all of his thoughts to Oikawa would only make his fears come true. 

He finished the wrappings in complete silence, Oikawa knew that Hinata wanted to reply, how he just needed time to find his words. If the hunt had been taking his toll on the prince, he could only imagine what Hinata must have gone through, for him to be as silent and beaten as he was. Oikawa felt the drop of warm water on his leg before he had the chance to notice how those brown golden eyes were being overflowed and glazed by the unstoppable tears.

“Hinata?” His voice was barely a whisper as the ginger hiccuped and scrunched his nose, trying to avert his eyes from the prince. “Come here.” He said fondly as he scooched closer to the other Omega and hugged him tightly, repeating the same circling motions that the smaller boy had done to calm him before.

They remained like that, Oikawa feeling how his clothes got damper and damper as the other boy kept on crying. He would just coo and rub circles at the boy’s back in a feeble attempt to soothe the pain that was currently coursing through Hinata. With a final strong sobbing, the Omega let out a warble of unintelligible words against the now soaked clothes of the brunette and Oikawa decided to use this as his que to straighten the whimpering boy.

“What was that? I couldn’t quite hear it.” He said in the sweetest tone he had ever used in his life. He used his thumbs to swipe the incoming tears as Hinata rubbed his nose, trying to breathe normally again.

Hinata breathed in slowly before letting out his words in a string of interrupted sobs. “I think there is something wrong with me Oikawa.” 

Tooru just stared at him, not understanding. “Are you hurt somewhere? It’s your arm? What happened?” He grabbed delicately the bandaged arms of the boy.

“No, it’s not… physical.” Hinata replied, taking his arms back from the other’s hold, clearly anguished. 

Oikawa respected the silence that followed his statement, but decided to try anyway. 

“It’s completely normal to feel emotional distress Hinata. We are being hunted down for crying out loud.” Oikawa patted the ginger’s head with a gentle smile. “We are tired, unfed and overstressed. If you were being all dandy about it, I would be even more worried about you!” He huffed fondly. He cupped his cheek, forcing the Omega to look back at him. “If you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay. But maybe you will feel better if you tell me what is hurting you.”

Hinata nodded at him, a weak smile on his lips.

“Do you promise not to be weirded out? Or… to judge me?” He said as his voice became lower and timid.

Oikawa blinked dumbfoundedly. “Why on earth would I judge you, Hinata?” He saw how the Omega became nervous, and rectified his reply with a new pat on the other’s head. “I promise I won’t. I would never. I just want to know what happened to you because I care.” 

Hinata smiled at him, and even if it was weak, it was a real one. Oikawa had meant it and he knew it. He could trust the other man, Oikawa may even have an answer to what he was feeling. Maybe it wasn’t that uncommon, it was just Hinata freaking out about nothing. He took a deep breath, trying to come up with the words that could correctly explain what he was feeling, and why he was ashamed about them.

“I’ve been... enjoying the hunt.” He said in barely a whisper.

Tooru looked at him dumbstruck, without being able to react. At first he thought he had heard wrong, or maybe the ginger had meant it like something else? He blinked a couple of times as Hinata grew anxiously nervous at the lack of answers to his confession.

“What?” The prince wasn’t able to come with a better reaction before the words slipped out from his mouth.

“I knew it… I knew it! I shouldn’t have told you!” Hinata started to struggle against the other’s hold, who was trying to keep him seated and calm.

“No, Hinata, wait!” Oikawa hugged him tightly to keep him from panicking. “I want to know why you feel like that. I’m trying to understand.”

Hinata stopped fighting and mumbled something against the other man’s clothes. Oikawa sighed and straightened him again. 

“I want to hear it.”

And sporting a calm and warm smile, Oikawa managed to make Hinata take a big breath in and out, sit back comfortably and offer the other man food from his pouch. A weak smile on his lips as he took a piece of bread for himself.

“It’s a long story.” He said, resigned but still feeling like he should resist a little.

“It’s not like we have anywhere to go.” Oikawa smiled back as he shrugged.

And the ginger went on to talk about his previous days, how panic and loathe had turned into fun and excitement once he started his run-ins with the blue eyed Alpha. How he had been proud every time he had managed to outsmart the hunters. How he had been pushing himself and waited for the other man to raise up to the challenge. How he had felt acknowledged and surprised by the Alpha. 

He kept on going, telling him how the Alpha had saved him back in the river and how his body betrayed him in every step of the way. He told Oikawa everything and the prince just listened back with a fond smile that even himself was unaware he was showing.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Tendou Satori was the loyal and personal knight of the prince of Shiratorizawa. Once an outcast due to his scary techniques and skills with his swordplay, he was hand selected by the king himself to accompany his stoic son in hopes that the stern man would finally acknowledge a swordsman worthy enough to be his personal knight. Little did the king know that what got Ushijima’s attention from the other boy wasn’t only his skills, but the unyielding and unsuspected friendship that bloomed between the two of them. 

The odd knight would fill the silence that would often accompany the soon to be king, but under the appearance of a one sided conversation, the prince would listen and take in the advice from his ever observant lackey. Despite his peculiar behaviour and antics, the never blinking stare of Tendou made him an over analytical and invaluable asset to the kingdom of Shiratorizawa; to the point of being one of the few men who could discern between the stoic features of his prince and understand the true meaning of the current slightly arched eyebrow plastered on the face of Ushijima Wakatoshi.

“Why are you brooding for, prince?” The redheaded asked, tilting his head in a funny angle.

The Alpha gave his retainer a bemused look. “I’m not brooding, Tendou. I’m just waiting.” 

He leaned into Ushijima’s space, squinting his eyes at his prince as he stared at him with scrutiny. “Yep.” He said, sighing. “Definitely brooding. What’s got you all upset?” He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.

“I’m not.” The other replied, in his same monotonous voice, but his lips remained in a little tenser line than usual.

Tendou shook his head in disapproval as he clicked his tongue condescendingly. 

“Wakatoshi-kun. How are you going to improve your social skills when you can’t even recognize what is bothering you!” He tutted as he patted the prince’s head. “You are bored!” 

Ushijima furrowed his brows at the revelation.

“No wonder you look like you are not having fun.” Tendou babied while smiling fondly at the prince. “You have just been sitting here doing nothing, instead of running around and mingling with the other princes.” The knight wiggled his fingers in a silly gesture before the prince’s face, his lips curved up at his own quirkiness. 

“It would be disrespectful to our host for me to finish my game before him.” Ushijima replied with his gaze fixed on his friend. A solemn, patient face accompanied his statement. “I wouldn’t want to tarnish the prestige of our country.” 

Tendou huffed at that as he straightened his back. He shoved his index finger in front of the prince and waved it in a negative gesture. “Wakatoshi-kun~.” He sang. “Don’t you see? You are the only one who is still fixated on that. You should start thinking about what it is that  _ you _ want to do instead.” He patted the shoulder of the prince as he snaked his head to the side of Ushijima. “The whole point of us coming here is for you to have fun!” Tendou shot his arms into the sky enthusiastically. Then, when he noticed how the prince just stared at him with his barely changed expression, he walked in front of him, humming with his hands in his back. “Besides, from what I heard, the Nohebian prince has already claimed his game, so nobody would truly mind if you did as well.”

Ushijima remained still, his gaze set on the forest’s foliage. He blinked one, and then twice and Tendou smiled at that. He liked to think that his words and his words only were the ones to make it to the prince.  _ Just one more push _ , he thought.

“You will be taking the throne soon, your highness. It’s time that you start making your own decisions.” He narrowed his eyes as a fond smile was directed at the prince. “Keeping the strength and pride of your country is hard, my prince, but setting the stage for changes to make it even stronger, it’s even harder.” He tapped his chin with his index finger. “It would be a good idea to start with small steps.” 

“What do you mean by that?” He replied in a tone someone else would have deemed as his usual unamused voice, but Tendou could identify the hint of intrigue that accompanied the statement.

“From now on, I would like to see you actually enjoying something for once, just for the sake of you taking part in it. Just because you  _ decided _ to do so, not because someone else said you should do it.” The knight replied with his hands still in his back, he leaned his upper body forward to the prince and cocked his head to the side in an uncomfortable angle. “So one day, you could be standing by your own ideals instead of your king’s.”

“Tendou.” The prince warned him with his lower tone of voice. All their years as friends wouldn’t save him from the hands of justice if he were to suggest something as what Ushijima was thinking.

“Wakatoshi-kun.” Tendou replied with only tenderness in his voice. “Don’t get me wrong. As yourself, I’m only looking for what is the best for our country. People won’t follow you if you just keep  _ trying _ your best.” He pushed away from the prince and joined his hands at the back of his head sighing. “A strong and determined leader who carries his own beliefs is much more worthy of being followed than a weak one who only chooses a path that has been already set for him.” He opened his heavily lidded eyes to focus on the glacial stare of his friend. “So? What is it that _ you _ want to do?” 

Ushijima remained sitting, staring back at his friend. After having participated in many hunts before, why was it now that he had felt bored about what he was so used to doing by now. No, it wasn’t that he was bored about the hunt, but it was the first time he actually wanted to try things differently. The first time he had become upset about not being able to do so.

Was what the other princes had discussed about actually bothered him that much? Had they actually made him want to find his own prey instead of just following instructions? But he had tracked down and found the Omega the other Alphas were bragging about and it hadn’t made him change his mind about the value of him, at all. What’s more. That brief encounter had made him realize how weak the other boy had been, clearly not a worthy Omega to chase, so why had he come back even more angered about it?

As he swallowed slowly and pondered about his friend’s words, something clicked in his mind. Maybe it wasn’t about the Omega or the prey itself, but the idea of not being able to prove himself against them. To actually show and prove that he, in fact, was stronger. Was it an Alpha pride thing? Was he, Ushijima Wakatoshi, pinnacle of Alpha strength and poise, being toyed around by his own instincts? And what was worse… Was he actually craving to submit to them?

He gave a timid smile at Tendou who replied with a much more enthusiastic one.

“I’m going hunting.”

  
  


\-----

“And then…” Hinata swallowed slowly. Mustering all the courage he had in his body before taking in a deep breath. “He woke up and caught me purring.” Immediately after he threw himself to the ground, arms hiding his face as he became a bright red hue all over.

Oikawa stared at him, unblinkingly, before the roar of laughter bursted from his insides. Hinata jolted up and threw himself towards the other Omega, his hands clapped tightly against the other’s mouth, trying to suppress some of the noise, shushing and pleading for the other to stop laughing.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Oikawa muffled apologies were barely recognizable as he wheezed. He grabbed the ginger’s wrists and tried to detach his hands from his mouth. The bright red man just kept on pushing them even harder.

“You promised you wouldn’t laugh!” Hinata whined. “You said that it was okay! That it was my instincts taking over! To not feel ashamed about them!” 

Oikawa managed to get the boy’s hands from his mouth. Hinata kept on whining and groaning with his head hanging between his stretched arms.

“I’m sorry Hinata! You are right. I shouldn’t have laughed.” He chuckled a bit before the death glare that Hinata shot back at him shut him up immediately. “You just caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Oikawa saw in amusement the puffed up cheeks and offended demeanor of the smaller Omega. He felt relieved at how much livelier he appeared now in contrast to his previous meltdown. How ashamed he had felt. Oikawa could feel how hurt Hinata was feeling about his own instincts and for an Omega who had been suppressing his own during his whole life, the overwhelming wilting emotion that kept on unfurling from the smaller boy, had been too intense to swallow at first. Thankfully, he was a man of reason, so he was able to put them aside and focus on the task at hand.

“Hinata.” He had said to the ginger once he had calmed down. “Don’t blame yourself. Don’t you dare feel ashamed of what your instincts tell you. All that is what makes you an Omega, and you should be proud of it.” He had been stern but calming at the same time, being careful to remove the endless tears cascading from the boy. “You have to remember that this festival started for a reason all those years ago. It was supposed to be for both genders, not only Alphas. It has always been the same game, with the same purpose. To alight our primal instincts, to enjoy them and to depend on them.” He attempted a chuckle to lift the spirits of the sobbing boy. “It’s just the endgame and its consequences what have made it not so enjoyable for us.” The joke barely lifted a smile from the ginger. Oikawa sighed as he patted the head of the other Omega. “You are just reacting to it. Don’t feel bad. Don’t blame yourself. Just keep your head held high and show everyone else that you are as competent and fierce as the others playing this game.”

After that Hinata had been able to smile again, to breathe calmly, as if Oikawa’s speech had given him his fire again, his purpose. Once the lump in his throat had been swallowed and he had been given permission to accept himself and his actions, he started to gloat about his previous victories, enjoying the retailing of the previous days, like trophies and medals hanging from his neck.

“So, what happened afterwards?” Oikawa prodded Hinata to continue. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t part curious and part impressed about the ginger’s whereabouts the past days, but more than that, he had to admit that the thrilling stories were a much needed distraction from his crippling fear about Suga not having returned yet.

“Well, the Alpha didn’t do anything, actually. He respected the truce.” Hinata sounded surprised. “I kinda thought that he was going to be arrogant and cruel but…” Oikawa noticed how faintly the smile from Hinata grew softer and softer, actually becoming endearing at the reminiscence of the anecdote. “The more I hanged around him, the more he kept on surprising me. It was… a nice kind of surprise.” He held his legs close to his body, hugging them with his arms. He remained unmoving, as his gaze got lost in the roots and leaves between them, before he chuckled and continued. “First thing in the morning I grabbed everything from his horse and left him there.”

Yeah. Hinata decided it was better not to mention the whole “revealing his name and throwing kindle into the fire by challenging the man back” kind of thing. Oikawa had already been too kind to ignore and not comment about his clear lack of self preservation behaviour. 

“So that’s why you have that satchel with you? Pretty smart chibi-chan!” Oikawa teased at him and ruffled his hair.

Hinata giggled at the praise. Suddenly, the memory of the origin of the pouch he had since the first day came crashing to his head. How had he forgotten? It was the answer to getting out of the forest! 

“Gwah!! Oikawa!!” He gasped loudly, startling the other Omega. “I forgot!! I completely forgot!” He sounded a little bit unhinged. “This satchel! This!” He said, shoving the pouch towards Oikawa, who kept looking at him, startled and confused. “It was given to me! By an Alpha! An Alpha looking for you!!” 

“For me?” Oikawa’s mind went numb at the confession. An Alpha? Looking for him… ? No way…

“Yeah!! He was a knight-”

Oikawa gasped, his stomach fell, he didn’t want to hope, he didn’t dare hope, but his eyes were already betraying him, glazing all over and clenching his throat as he tried to ask for the Alpha’s name.

“-He was with another man, another knight! Daichi-san! He was so nice-”

Oikawa breath hitched, his heart accelerated at the overflowing feelings as he cursed repeatedly about how emotionally he had become ever since he was forced to embrace his Omegan side. Man, how he wished to go back to suppressing it.

“- Hmmm I think he was called Iwaizumi? I’m so bad with names.” Hinata said sheepishly while rubbing his head. All this time he kept on blabbering, unable to notice the crumpled figure of Oikawa just being destroyed by his words.

“He… But… It’s too risky…” Oikawa was just talking to himself. He had zoned Hinata out completely and was barely managing to bring the sentences out.

“Yeah! They said so as well! That’s why I told them to cover their scents! Oh! and to look for the river as well. I thought for certain that he was going-” Hinata was cut by the tight clasp Oikawa put on his shoulders. “Oikawa? Are you-?”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Oikawa asked, a desperate pleading tone behind him.

“Uh - On the first day. I-I haven’t bumped into them again.” Hinata could see how the previous lifeline that Oikawa was holding onto snapped at his words, as the intensity of his eyes left him way too quickly. 

The weight and the pressure from his shoulders was lifted for a moment as Oikawa started to drag his hands limply back. Hinata was about to say something, when the hands grabbed his shoulders with the same strength from before, almost in a pleading way.

“We have to find him.” He said with a sudden resolution. “Before we escape, we have to find him.”

“I-.” Hinata tried.

“I know it's selfish!” Oikawa interrupted with a harsh begging tone. “And I know that I’ll be putting you in danger when I can’t even walk properly… But I can’t just leave him if I know he is here, risking everything to find me. I can’t... I-” He dropped his head as his hands still held onto the other’s shoulders. 

Hinata touched the other man’s hands, jolting him into looking up. “I was going to say that we should find him.” Oikawa gave the ginger a heartening gaze, his smile showing his relief and gratitude. “I think it’s our safest bet if we want to get out of here in one piece.” The affectionate smile gave Oikawa the strength to push back his tears and smile back. His hope renewed. 

“Thank you.” Oikawa breathed out. Relieved and a little bit embarrassed about his previous behavior. Maybe he should have played it cool and heard what Hinata had to say instead of jumping into awkward pleads. He wasn’t too fond of this whole emotional side to his genetics. “Would you, um… keep this whole sentimental display a secret?” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I have an image to protect.”

Hinata laughed at that. “Don’t worry, your status as the cool and composed Grand King won’t be damaged by me.” He chuckled once more. “It’s so good to have a new plan.” He smiled brightly as he tossed his arms into the sky in celebration. “After finding out that this whole area was closed off, I was starting to lose hope actually.” 

“You? Losing hope?” Oikawa asked in disbelief. “You are like the most uplifting little optimist I have ever met.”

Hinata huffed and puffed his cheeks in annoyance. “What’s wrong about thinking that way?”

Oikawa laughed. “It wasn’t meant to be an insult. I’m actually envious about your attitude.” He sat in a more relaxed stance. “It makes me want to think that if things are not going the way I want is because I haven’t done everything in my power to make them happen yet.” He gave a beaming smile to Hinata. “So thank you for making me remember that,  _ Shouyo _ .”

Hinata returned the smile with an even bigger grin. Oikawa just stared back with affection at the sunshine smile the boy was giving him. It was official, he  _ really _ liked the kid. The moment they stepped out of the forest, the first thing on his list was to fight tooth and nail for the eternal well-being of both him and Sugawara. Once he was sure that both Omegas had everything they ever needed for the rest of their lives, he would accomplish what he promised them in the very first place. A new era for the citizens of Karasuno. Especially for those of the Omegan gender.

The only thing that was bugging him from his future plans was the nagging feeling about the Alpha that had been tracking Hinata down. From what he inferred, it wasn’t that far-fetched to think that it may have been his little brother the one following the Omega around, and if that were the case, then things would get complicated. How would he be able to hide Hinata from the soon to be king? Maybe he should ask Saeko once he gets out. Maybe even Tsukishima could help too. 

He sighed at the thought. He shouldn’t be thinking about that yet. He still needed all his energy and brain power working into getting out of the forest first.  _ One task at a time.  _ He remembered to himself.

“It won’t be easy to make it out with so many of us, though.” Hinata’s reasoning cut the other Omega from his thinking. “We are bound to drag attention.” He pointed to Oikawa’s splinted leg before adding. “And with your current leg like that it’s going to be even trickier.”

“Don’t mind me! I won’t drag you down.”

“Even if you say so Oikawa, you can barely put any pressure on it. Forget it. We’ll have to wait for Suga to plan a way on how to move you before deciding on what to do next.” As he finished his sentence, Hinata noticed how the sky was bleeding into a beautiful sunset now and he started to think about how much time it had been since they had started talking. And with the thought sinking in, suddenly, things weren’t starting to feel that bright nor optimistic to him. “Oikawa?” He started to ask before realizing that the face of the brunette was showcasing the same dreadful thoughts his own brain was brewing. 

Oikawa remained silent, wishing that Hinata wouldn’t finish his inquiry. He still wanted to hold onto the safety blanket that the denial of how long it had been since he last saw Sugawara gave him.

Hinata swallowed slowly, his heart dropped and his stomach tensed as he realised everything at once.

“Since when?”

“I would say an hour before you showed up.” He replied. “But I could be wrong. I wasn’t able to see the sun from here.”

“So my scent wasn’t the only one around the area, then.” 

“It would be safe to assume so.” The prince replied with his throat in a tight knot.

“We need to get out of here. Now.” Hinata started to pick everything up, the previous amicable and fondness ambience between the two Omegas replaced by distress at the sudden realization that his friend was not coming back.

Oikawa bit his bottom lip. Guilt overflowing his mind, he was incapable of pushing away the idea of Suga putting himself at risk in the first place was completely the prince’s fault. The sudden hand in front of his face made him snap out of his downspiraling trance.

“Can you stand up? We need to move.” Hinata urged.

“What if Suga hasn’t been captured?” Oikawa fretted. “We have-”

“And what if he was?” Hinata retorted maybe a little bit harsher than necessary. “Oikawa. If they find us, we don’t get a second chance.”

Time was of the essence. If Sugawara had been captured, then, there was a not so small chance that the Alphas were still lurking in the area, and with all the emotional mumbo jumbo from before, there were bound to be pheromones in the air for them to track. Oikawa may have been able to suppress most of them, but he had to admit to himself that relying on artificial suppressants during most of his life had given him bad habits. It wasn’t the time to curse his lifetime of playing to be a beta, but he sure hated how his senses had dulled significantly with the lack of use. He was now barely able to discern scents, only types, and even with that, he had been having issues. If it hadn’t been for Suga... He wouldn’t have made it. Period. He owed him. Big time.

“Till the sun sets.” Oikawa begged as he grabbed the ginger’s hand with both hands. “I owe it to him.”

“Oikawa…” Hinata tried to reason back. “It’s a huge risk.”

Oikawa clasped his hands tighter, pressing his forehead against the hands of the other Omega. “Please Hinata.” 

Hinata grunted in anguish. What to do? He knew it was insane. If Suga had been captured, then they had already wasted so much time. He didn’t want either options; to risk staying or leave his friend in case he returned. Maybe staying till the sun set would give him relief from a guilty conscience, but on the other hand, the risk of staying and getting both him and Oikawa captured was too much to even it out. 

“If you owe it to him, then you should make getting out of here your top priority.” Hinata said, avoiding the prince’s eyes. He couldn’t face him right now. “Suga decided this, so you should respect that. Getting yourself caught even after he tried to save you, would be the same as saying that all his sacrifice was for naught.” Hinata grabbed Oikawa’s hand firmly. “Don’t make Suga regret what he did for you.” 

Oikawa swallowed. He knew Hinata was right, but he couldn’t just leave. “A message!” He said as an idea came to mind. “Let’s leave him a message in case he returns. A way to find us.”

“But wouldn’t that alert the hunters as well?” 

“Not if we are smart about the content.” Oikawa smiled.

  
  


\-----

  
  


The night was creeping in fast and menacingly. Hinata and Oikawa had left their hideout and replaced it for the shelter of tree trunks and less leafy paths. With how much noise and how slowly they were moving, they were trying to reduce their tracks as much as possible. They just hoped that the cover of the night would be enough to help them into making it the farthest possible from their previous location without being spotted.

Oikawa had to give it to the kid. After his failed initial attempt to make it on his own, moving his leg had been unbearable. Hinata had tried to force him onto his back, but Oikawa’s pride and stubbornness forced him to swallow the pain, so he decided to use the body of the other as a crutch and just limped his way through. He was not going to repeat the same mistakes again. He was not going to deplete Hinata’s strength and stamina because he couldn’t bear a little - he winced as he took his next step - pain on his way out.

“Oikawa, just let me carry you. You are clearly in pain.” 

“And I say that I’m fine! Now keep going.”

Hinata sighed. It had been the same discussion for the past half an hour now. There was no point in fighting against a hard headed prince. He was offering a solution, but if he just wanted to lose his leg over self pity, well, who was Hinata to deny the whims of royalty?

They had started their march without much of a direction. They just knew they had to leave their previous area, but now that they were on the move, they weren’t so sure where they should be heading. The river? Hinata had mentioned the need of a water source to the Alpha knights, but during his days around the area he never saw nor smelled them. There was also the fact that the area was surrounded by the tall wooden fence after all, and with the leg of Oikawa as it was, jumping over it was certainly out of the question. Besides… The blue eyed Alpha was probably around the river as well, he needed to recover from his wounds after all and Hinata, for some reason he was not going to address, was not very fond of the idea of him meeting Oikawa, but that was another can of worms that he was absolutely not gonna open at the moment. 

Maybe heading to the northern area? It was still an unexplored area for Hinata, but he was certain that the entrance of the Hunting grounds should be around that zone, it would make sense being the only place the Omega had still to explore. It was better than nothing he guessed.

“We should head north.” He said as he helped Oikawa land his next step.

“Why north?” He asked back.

“It’s the only area I haven’t gone near to… and I’m guessing that is where the entrance is.”

“What about Iwaizumi?” Oikawa asked confused as to why their plan had changed.

“If the only way out of the forest is through the entrance, isn’t he bound to make it there at some point?” 

Oikawa pondered for a minute. Knowing Iwaizumi and his stubbornness equal to his own, the Alpha would remain in the forest until he caught up with Oikawa or until someone else did. “I don’t think he is planning to leave until he finds me.”

“Hmmm. Then what do you propose?” Hinata asked back. “We can’t just wander aimlessly in the forest just hoping that he will find us before the other hunters do.”

That was a valid point. Trying to call for Iwaizumi was a call for all the hunters at the same time. He wasn’t sure if the knight had a way to track him at all. What if he scented places just to point him towards them and someone else got the trail instead? It was too risky. 

“For now let’s keep moving north, let’s find a place to rest.” Hinata suggested after his friend's silence.

A chilly wind blew from behind the duo and with the numbness of their necks, it also brought a new scent with it. 

Oikawa gasped as he breathed it. There was something odd about it. Even with his dulled sense of smell there was something he felt like he could recognize about it, which was odd as he hadn’t been able to differentiate much whenever he had tried, but he still couldn’t pinpoint the familiarity of it. It was spicy but also sweet? He could smell vanilla? He choked as he turned, almost knocking Hinata down.

“Oikawa!” Hinata gasped once he smelled it.

“It can’t be!” Oikawa’s eyes opened wide as he saw at the distance the familiar grey hair coming towards them. “Suga?” He whispered astonishedly as his heart dropped in relief at the sight. 

Both men started to make their way awkwardly towards the approaching figure when a second gust of wind brought the remainder of a memory long forgotten by Oikawa. He stopped dead on his tracks and Hinata was forced to stop and look back at him, worried that his injury was causing him that much pain, but the lost focused gaze and watery eyes of the prince made him snap back at the figure at the distance, noticing just now how Sugawara was not coming alone. Behind him stood two Alphas and one was in the same or even worse state than Oikawa’s. 

The Alpha made a run towards them and with a choking sound and the name trapped in his throat Oikawa threw himself forwards, managing barely a couple of lousy limpings before his fall was stopped by the tight and desperate arms of the Alpha. A clashing mess of sobbings and tired limbs, but it didn’t matter to them, because Iwaizumi had found his prince and Oikawa was finally safe back in the arms of his knight. 

“I found you. I’ve finally found you.” Iwaizumi repeated as he kept on hugging the Omega tighter, almost fearing that he would disappear if he were to let go.

“Iwa-chan.” It was all Oikawa managed to let out before his lips were sealed by the Alpha’s own. He melted under the warmness of his arms and held him tighter as he deepened their kiss.

The world went quiet. The group of people making their way to their side was silenced by the beating of their own hearts, the only indication of one another. In the middle of their safe and tight embrace, they were no longer in danger or hungry or tired or scared. 

They were home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll confess… I wanted, I really wanted to be an evil person and leave you with a cliffhanger and no reunions for this chapter, but if I want the story to move along at the pace I want, I think it was better to just make you suffer for only one chapter. Things are coming together and now that the gang is reunited at last it’s time for the last arc of the story. I may have to add another chapter to the count after all, whoops!
> 
> See you in the next one!


	11. The Decoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Commercial voice*  
> This chapter is brought to you by No sleep! No sleep! The best way to spend the holidays! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter. I hope it compensates for how long I took to finish it. I could come up with a lousy excuse, but let’s be real… I spent more time playing Switch than writing this week. So… My bad! Hahahaha!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the support, kudos, comments and lovely words that you leave on this! I can’t stress enough how happy they make me! It’s what keeps the juices flowing! Honestly! I think that posting here is the best way to keep you motivated to keep on writing. You guys are the best!
> 
> I'll reply to your comments tomorrow (or... this afternoon if we are technical) I want to go to bed hahaha! 
> 
> I'll probably re-check the chapter tomorrow as well, there's bound to be some horrible mistake in there that I'm too tired to notice.
> 
> Edit: I edited some of the chapter. Nothing much, just another grammar/word replacement pass so it reads better in my head.

The moon was high up on the sky, illuminating brightly the path the group was threading. Their situation hadn’t really changed; they were still tired, hungry and in danger, but for the first time since the hunt had started, the atmosphere surrounding the night was a different one. It felt hopeful, amicable and even fun. Like if they were a group of friends in the middle of a road trip, sharing stories and jokes while the night continued its advance.

“What took you so long Iwa-chan! I thought a knight’s job was to keep the prince safe.” Oikawa whined as he poked the cheek of the knight who was currently carrying him on his back.

“If you keep moving I’m gonna drop you, then you can ask any of the hunters to come pick you up and carry you instead.” Iwaizumi grunted back.

“You are so mean to me.” Oikawa bantered loudly back with his singing voice. He lunged himself forwards, hugging tightly the neck of the Alpha. “And here I was thinking that you had missed me with how you were greeting me before.” He whispered closely to his ear.

Iwaizumi only huffed back as he shook the weight at his back making Oikawa yelp at the sudden movement.

The other three just laughed at the exchange and bickering that had become a non stop show of disguised forms of affection after their impromptu kiss had been cut short by a cough of Daichi, subtly reminding the knight of his position and where they were standing for him to have shown such display of closeness with the prince.

“Don’t mind us!” Sugawara had replied quickly with a teasing tone reserved just for Oikawa. 

But the damage had been done and a very flustered Iwaizumi and Oikawa had to acknowledge the rest of the group with the most awkward and blatant lie about it not being what it seemed. The looks and disguised touches between the two that followed weren’t missed by the rest of the group either. 

“I’m still shocked that you met with Daichi-san Suga!” Hinata said excitedly. “How lucky!”

“Well, I didn’t think I was being lucky when these two brutes started running after me back then.” Sugawara said as he puffed his cheeks in annoyance. “I thought for certain that I was going to be marked. I was really scared.” He chuckled as he patted Hinata’s head fondly. He was really happy to have the ginger back at his side. Knowing that he was alive and well had been such a relief. He wasn’t sure how or when, maybe it was because Hinata looked younger than he really was, or maybe it was that heart warming smile of his, but somehow, the little runt had wormed his way into the older Omega’s heart.

“Scared?” Daichi asked dumbfounded. “Hard to believe it by how you were swinging that branch back there.” He laughed as the Omega’s ears became a little redder in hue, as if he had been caught doing something embarrassing. “I was sure you were going to bite my hands off as well! If it weren’t for Iwaizumi talking you down, I’m sure we would have been beaten really hard!” He gave the Omega a bright smile and a sheepish laugh. “That would have been embarrassing. Imagine the captain of the royal guard and the prince’s knight beaten down by an Omega armed with just a branch.”

He laughed again, but this time Sugawara just narrowed his eyes at him.

“Oh? Would it now?” Sugawara asked with a little more of a bite in his tone.

Daichi flinched and looked at the Omega. Had he said something wrong? He was getting too anxious being surrounded by so many of them at once.

“Not that it would be because you are an Omega.” Daichi corrected quickly, rubbing his neck nervously. “It’s because of the branch and us being unprepared and-”

Sugawara laughed earnestly, cutting the jumbled rambling of the Alpha immediately. 

“It’s funny to watch your reactions _Captain_.” Sugawara winked back at him.

Oikawa blinked astonished. Was Sugwara flirting with Daichi? And what was going on with Daichi’s reactions? This was so good to let it pass. He was going to torture the both of them with this new found information.

“So what happened?” Hinata asked before anyone else could comment about the clearly flustered captain incapable of mustering any words after hearing the sweet laughter and grinning smile of the grey haired Omega.

_Oh yeah. Daichi has it bad_. Oikawa mused to himself, already plotting and scheming with a devilish grin on his face.

“We were in the area when I smelled a scent similar to Oikawa’s.” Iwaizumi replied. “It wasn’t entirely the prince’s, but it was the best lead we had had in days.” He felt how Oikawa subtly pressed his head against his back, a little bit of skinship to let him know his gratefulness about the whole situation. “So, naturally, we started to follow the trail, only to find that it wasn’t Oikawa, but Sugawara at the end of it.”

“So these two desperate Alphas come running at me, cornering and demanding answers about my scent!” Suga continued as he crossed his arms annoyed. “Imagine how I felt! After having promised Oikawa I was going to help him, these two barged in shouting at me why I smelled like the prince.” 

“We didn’t demand it like that.” Daichi tried to protest in an attempt to protect his image.

“Maybe you didn’t, but Iwaizumi’s desperation almost made me submit.” Suga glared at the knight. “You need to learn to control yourself! You can’t just force answers out of people like that!”

“Rude Iwa-chan!” Oikawa gasped mockingly, earning another shake that made him grab the shoulders of the knight tighter. He stuck out his tongue towards the Alpha after the childish behaviour display.

“I said I was sorry.” Iwaizumi said, avoiding the other’s eyes.

“Well, to tell you the truth.” Suga started. “I probably wouldn’t have said anything if it weren’t for your scent.” He shrugged. “I could feel the hurt and sadness from it. It made me remember a similar feeling coming from a certain someone.” Suga eyed Oikawa, who just burrowed his face in the knight’s back. “It was as if you weren’t looking for the Omega prince, but like if you were looking for, you know, Oikawa.” He said grining devilishly at the pair.

Both knight and prince looked at each other, for a tiny shared moment between them two before smiling at each other fondly.

“Oh! Thank you for abandoning me by the way!” Suga gruffed as both Hinata and Oikawa quivered. “Such amazing friends I have.”

“I’m sorry Suga!” Hinata fretted and bowed quickly begging for forgiveness. His hands clamped together in an apologetic gesture. “It was my idea, please don’t take it on Oikawa, he wanted to wait for you!” He straightened up a little to look up at the older Omega with the biggest puppy eyes he could come up with. “I just thought that you may have been already hunted and we had promised to help Oikawa and if you had been captured and we were to be captured, it would have been meaningless and it had been so long since you were gone and and-” He had become visibly nervous as he pinched his index fingers together trying to come up with an excusable logic behind their previous actions.

“Hinata, it’s okay, it’s okay!” Sugawara laughed gently. “It was a smart decision. You did well. I was just joking.” Hinata let out his breath in relief. “Beside, you left me a message so I could find you.”

“Oh! It was Oikawa’s idea!” Hinata replied enthusiastically. “He’s really smart!” 

“I’m glad you got it.” Oikawa said smiling back, posing his index and middle finger in a "V" shape.

Sugawara lifted the mint leaf and honeysuckle plant. “Couldn’t miss it.” He winked before he gave the prince a forlorn look. “I was so scared when I didn’t see you back there. I thought for certain that someone else had found you, if it weren’t for the little flower arrangement I would have given up on you.” He said with a sourly tone. “Who had thought that you and Hinata would have met though!” Suga went to grab and holster Hinata by the waist, rubbing his cheek against his own in a sweet scenting Omega gesture. “I’m so glad that you are okay Hinata. We overheard some Alphas saying that you may have been in trouble at some point. We were so worried.” 

Hinata grinned back at the Omega, accepting the praise and filling his chest with the warmth he thought he had forgotten after days of exhaustion and loneliness. He felt so renewed and grateful, it was such a contrast to the previous days. He just couldn’t help the genuine brightness behind his smile. Suga held him tighter before putting him down.

“This little runt is a fighter all right!” Daichi joined in the praise. “He helped us get out of the hunter’s trail on the very first day.” He got closer to Hinata and ruffled his hair making the ginger grow a little bit embarrassed. 

“It was nothing.” He said bashfully. “I’m just glad that I could help!” He directed his grin at the Alpha now. “I should be thanking you instead! I was so out of it that if I hadn’t run into you, I would not have made it.” He beamed his smile once more at the Alpha. “Thank you Daichi-San! For the food too!”

Daichi went to rub his own head, not used to the straightforward praise or sweet compliments. As his hand went closer to his nose though, he noticed the lingering scent of another familiar figure. He emitted a confused “huh” before smelling his hand more carefully, discerning now the distinct smell of the prince of Karasuno. Before he could help it, he was leaning over Hinata’s personal space taking in deep sniffs that only caused the whole group to stare at him in complete astonishment.

“Excuse you?” Oikawa was the first one to break the weird spell that had Daichi smelling Hinata’s hair crown with the most flabbergasted tone of voice he had ever used to date. “Sawamura Daichi, what exactly are you doing?”

Daichi jumped at the scolding and looked back at the group staring wide eyed at the visible confused and uncomfortable faces.

“I’m sorry!” He jolted backwards quickly leaving the Omega’s personal space. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable Hinata! It’s just that you smell like prince Kageyama.”

Oikawa’s eyes widened in fear.

“Prince Kageyama?” Hinata asked back, slowly connecting the dots of whom the captain may be referring to. “The blue eyed Alpha?!” He gasped.

“I mean, yeah, Oikawa’s br-”

“Acquaintance!” Oikawa yelled, interrupting Daichi as fast as he could.

“You… do you know him?” Hinata asked in a mix of hurt and surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wasn’t sure it was him, actually. So I thought it was better for you not to know.” He reasoned. “Why? Would you have liked to know his name?” Oikawa asked in a defensive kind of way.

Hinata bit his bottom lip. In all honesty, he did. He wanted to know everything about the Alpha that had saved his life, that had made him purr, the Alpha that kept on surprising and made him want to challenge himself. The intense blue eyed Alpha with a scowl that could sink ships with just one look and the one that made him feel so many different feelings at the same time. But he also wanted _not to know_. If he didn’t know who the Alpha was, the whole experience, the hunt, the man itself, would end up as a memory, as nothing personal. He would be forever a stranger and Hinata would have been able to move on and go back to the life he was longing for. He couldn’t suppress the heartthrob that this knowledge made him feel as new and even more confusing thoughts clouded his judgement. He decided to go with honesty.

“I don’t know.” He said shyly. “I guess?” His voice sounded confused and like if he was uncomfortable. He rubbed his right arm, picking on the bandage's edges.

Suga held him closer as he rubbed the other Omega’s shoulders gently. “It’s okay Hinata, why don’t we talk about something else instead?” Hinata nodded swiftly as Suga took him a little further, giving Oikawa a knowing look that the brunette took and thanked.

“Why don’t you want to share your relationship with the crown prince?” Iwaizumi asked once the two Omegas had made a little distance, catching on with what had just happened.

Oikawa breathed out a long sigh. 

“It’s complicated.” He started. “Chibi-chan is the Omega Tobio was obsessed with.”

“The one from the handkerchief?” Daichi asked.

“The same one.” Oikawa sighed again. “But if Shouyo learns that Kageyama is going to be the next king, the amount of pressure on his shoulders could end with him making regretful decisions, especially knowing that for the prince to claim the throne, he has to finish the hunt with a successful bond. He might feel obliged to submit to little Tobio for me to help with the Omega’s freedom and I don’t want to ruin his life just because he feels indebted to me.”

The other men stood quietly at the prince’s side.

“But wouldn’t it be better for him to be an Omega from the palace? He could have access to so many things I bet he hasn’t gotten in his life.” Iwaizumi started.

“And why do you think that a life paired with prince Kageyama would be so awful?” Daichi joined, a little offended on behalf of his prince.

“It doesn’t matter the Alpha he is bonded to. It's the bond that would make it horrible.” Oikawa sighed as he slumped himself on Iwaizumi’s back. “All the riches in the world do not compare to the ability to make your own decisions Iwa-Chan."

Iwaizumi stopped walking, making Oikawa to lean back and hum, questioning their sudden halt.

"That's what you think about bonding?" The Alpha asked as his voice became stone cold.

The Omega stiffened for a second as his brain made the connection of what the Alpha was _really_ asking about. He groaned softly as he bumped delicately his forehead against the back of his friend’s, hiding himself from view.

"That's…. Different" Oikawa mumbled not knowing how to finish the thought. His face was showing crystal clear what he really thought regarding the idea of bonding with a certain Alpha.

Iwaizumi chuckled, slightly amused at that. "Then, have more faith in your brother Shittykawa. Tobio is not a bad kid." 

"He is still not good enough for Shouyou, though." Oikawa pouted childishly.

Both Alphas laughed.

“What do you plan to tell Tobio once we get out of the forest? You are actually interfering with his crowning, you know that, right?” Iwaizumi decided to ask.

“I’ll jump that hurdle when I get there. For now we should focus on leaving this place.” Oikawa rested his chin on the Alpha’s shoulder. “I’m so tired. I want a shower and my bed. I’m hating this whole Omega instincts thing. I’ve become so touchy-feely and whiny. I can’t wait to go back to suppressing it.”

“You’ve always been a whiny person. Don’t blame it on your genes.” Iwaizumi refuted. 

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa gasped. “Why are you so mean to me! And you took so much time to find me! You are the worst knight I have ever met!” 

“Ungrateful brat. As if tracking you down by memory only was easy.” Iwaizumi bit back as he craned his neck to look at Oikawa. “And don’t come blaming me! You should have been more careful and not get captured in the first place! What kind of lousy ruler gets himself kidnapped by _Shirabu Kenjiro_?!” 

“What?!” Oikawa spat up in surprise. “That little shit! I knew he was slimy, but this!” Flashes of the master of ceremony’s smirk played on his head. “Wait till I get my hands on that prick.”

“No need, your highness.” Daichi snorted. “Hajime did quite a number on the lord’s face.” He looked back at Oikawa’s surprised expression and smiled widely. “A broken nose and a quite bruised ego.” He winked.

“Awwww. Iwa-chan~!” The prince hugged the Alpha’s neck fondly. “You did that for me? How sweet of you.”

“I did it for myself. I couldn’t tolerate the smug grin when he explained his whole scheme to me.” The Alpha replied. Oikawa just grinned wider. “Apparently he was in cahoots with Shiratorizawa this whole time. He gave your scent to Ushijima.”

“What?” Oikawa’s face paled a little. “Then how did you find me?” 

“I told you.” Iwaizumi paused as a tiny crimson blush painted the tip of his ears. “By memory.” He finished.

Putting the revelation of the Alpha aside, Oikawa was trying to come to terms that he had been lucky. _Very lucky_. If Ushijima had caught on his scent sometime during the hunt, there was no way he had made it safely out of the forest, no matter how many people were to help him. The memory of his mother’s warning hitting him closer and harder than ever. He slouched on Iwaizumi’s back feeling so grateful for the warmth seeping from it. He wasn’t sure if it was the rollercoaster of emotions from that day, the running and overexertion from his injury or the kiss he had shared with his knight, but a warm blanket came over him making him feel cozy, exhausted and a little feverish. He snuggled the back of the Alpha.

“I can’t wait to get out of here.” He mumbled as he drawled the words.

  
  


\-----

The campsite of the Alphas was a very deserted place that night. Being so close to the ending of the festival, it was fairly common for the hunters to start claiming their prey by now. Sure, hunting down the Omegas was always fun, but a pampered nobleman like the esteemed guests participating in the game could do so many nights without proper showers and bedding. 

Atsumu and Osamu glared in unison at the clearly empty place. They knew Daishou had bailed out after bonding with the female Omega and Kageyama had been missing for two nights now, but there were no records of him _actually_ making it out of the forest. A search party had gone in the late afternoon to look for him, fearing that the prince may have had an accident that had rendered him immobile. But the biggest surprise of the night was without a doubt the missing prince from Shiratorizawa.

In all honesty, Ushijima wasn’t the best companion for tales of the hunt around the fire, but the idea of him actually not being at all was leaving a weird taste in the twin’s mouth.

“Where the hell is he?” Atsumu asked out loud.

“Do you think that he…” Osamu dared to put the idea in the air.

“No way. He’s been hunting with us for years and he has never gone hunting without the host claiming his Omega first.” Atsumu quickly rebutted.

“Well, maybe he thought Kageyama bailed? He has never gone home without an Omega either.” The other replied.

“Samu… It’s Ushijima we are talking about. He doesn’t need time to track or hunt, he just wants the event to be finished.” Atsumu huffed indignantly. “Even if Kageyama appeared on the last day, that cocky bastard would make it out with his prey; always with the Omega that we weren't able to track.” 

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious?”

“What? He not being here?”

“That too, but no.” Osamu crossed his arms as he mused over his thoughts. “It’s _always_ an untraceable Omega. No matter how much time we spend in the forest. The Omega he takes home never appears in our radar.” He hummed as he waited for his brother to comment further. “I think he gets special treatment.” 

“Huh?” 

“Yeah… like what if there is always an Omega selected _for_ Ushijima.” Osamu was taking as something positive his brother’s wide eyes and surprised expression as he tried to unveil his conspiracy theory. “With all the tight relationships between the two countries it wouldn’t surprise me, really.” He finished.

“But don’t we get the same boxes?” 

“Ah! You are right.” He deflated a little at that.

“Well, it doesn’t matter really. I wouldn’t want to be forced to chase an Omega I don’t find interesting. What’s the fun in that?” Atsumu whined as he put his hands behind his head. 

“Hah. I guess you are right.” Osamu finished. “Maybe Ushijima took our advice more seriously then?”

“Well, with the little shrimp nowhere to be found and Mr. Vanilla’s trail lost, I guess we will have to look for our pine tree one Samu.” Atsumu ignored the way Osamu glared at his brother. “If we don’t want him to be snatched by Mr. Perfect Alpha that is.” He teased.

“And since when is he _ours_ ?” Osamu leaned onto his brother with a menacing grimace. “Let me remind you that _I_ found him first and I don’t feel like sharing!”

“So that’s how you plan on going, huh Samu?” Atsumu leaned forwards towards his brother, both faces scrunched against each other in defiance. “And I was feeling generous enough to share him with you! I guess I’ll have to go and mark him before you can then!” He said standing up in a swift movement, making his twin to lose his balance and fall from the log bench. 

“Atsumu!” Osamu growled from the floor as he tried to stand up. “Don’t you dare!” He got back up on his feet and ran after his brother. 

_From the looks of it, tonight would be the last night for the twins._

Matsukawa sighed from the confines of his hideout. He had just made it back to camp for the twins to make their retreat forcing him to move once again. Didn’t they get tired? He was longing so badly for a bed and some rest, but he knew how important these last days were for their mission. They had made it so far without meeting Oikawa, to the point that the knight was actually believing that they had it all wrong and the prince had never even participated in the hunt to begin with. Iwaizumi may have come up with the whole story just so he wouldn’t be the only one to be fired from the castle knights after his little outburst against the master’s of ceremonies.

He started to move when he noticed the absence of a certain Alpha. 

_That_ caught his attention. Ushijima wasn’t in the camping site and by the looks of it, he hadn’t been in a _while_ . His stomach tensed as he just felt something going wrong. He needed to tell Iwaizumi. He didn’t know where the hell the Shiratorizawa prince was and he was hoping, _really hoping_ that Makki could take care of it if the worst came to happen, but now, he needed to alert Iwaizumi. He sniffed the air for the smell of plants and spices that had become so familiar to him by now. He may have not been an Alpha, but at least he knew how to track one.

He abandoned his intent of pursuit after the twins and started dashing through the forest, ignoring his exhaustion, hunger and aching limbs. Adrenaline flaring his body with fuel and determination. It was better to be safe than sorry. 

\-----

  
  


Hanamaki had been pretty much bored with his lousy babysitting job. Ushijima was a very, _very_ dull man to follow. Never moving out of camp unless strictly necessary, focusing his day on mental and physical workouts instead of taking part in the game as his other Royal counterparts. If it weren’t for the fact that Makki was supposed to prevent the other from finding Oikawa, the light colored haired knight would have been very pissed about the menial job he had been assigned to.

At least that’s what he had been thinking before the prince's sudden and completely unprompted charge into the woods. 

The change in behaviour had been so out of place that Makki almost lost him completely before acknowledging the Alpha’s absence from the camp. Cursing at his lack of notice, the knight started following Ushijima. Guided by the faint light of a burning torch, the only telltale sign of the Shiratorizawa’s prince location, only to be barely left behind by how fast the horse galloped in an apparent set direction. Whoever thought that running behind horses and thinking of catching up to them by foot was a good idea, Makki had another very different opinion about it.

The horse started to reduce his speed and the knight took this opportunity to gain on him, leaving a respectable distance as to not draw attention to himself. He didn’t want to alert the prince of his presence, the lingering thought that his discovery would, more than affect his career, would jeopardize Tooru’s chance at success. 

Once he got closer enough, he started to reduce his own pace only for the Alpha to stop and look back at the exact spot he was hiding. If it weren’t for his fast reflexes, he would have been caught red handed for sure. He leaned a bit to peek at the prince, to know if it had been just a chanced look, a noise that he may have made unintentionally or if the Alpha had actually caught on about the knight tracking him.

The moment their eyes met, Hanamaki stopped breathing. He knew there was no way that Ushijima could see where he was hiding, but the expressionless cold glare of the stoic man made him feel that he actually could. That the knight had been discovered and that the prince wasn’t even bothered about it. It was like he was saying to his face; “There is nothing you can do against me.”

A cold sweat started to damp the back of his neck, his knees and legs felt like lead and he just waited for the other man to move so he could breathe again. The tension was keeping him rooted to the ground, unmovable, about to give up and ask for forgiveness, when the Alpha perked up, his whole body focusing elsewhere, something far away catching his attention.

Hanamaki may haven’t been able to smell it, but just by the reaction, he understood. He had seen countless Alphas react like that before. His mind made the connection quickly, as a second one came barging in immediately after; Ushijima _could_. 

The Alpha hunched over his horse, white knuckles clasping the reins of it. The once shadowed glare of the Alpha came into light as he tilted his head back slightly in excitement. 

_My prey is calling me._ Ushijima thought amused, for the first time feeling his body pulling into action by pure instincts, no rationality. 

Ushijima growled softly and whipped the reins of the horse, making it fly towards the direction of the scent. He was no longer a prince on a stroll, he was a beast on the prowl.

A wicked smile crossed the barely emotional face of the prince and Hanamaki shuddered. Praying that whoever the Omega was, it wasn’t Oikawa. There was no way that he could give the prince a second to hide by the aura of the Alpha alone. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The group was resting for a bit in the middle of a more foliage guarded space. Daichi was keeping guard of noises and unusual movements. They haven’t had many bad experiences after sunset during the hunt, the hunters having most likely gone to rest for the night, but seeing that there were only a couple of days before the hunt ended, their actions could become a little more unpredictable. Besides, any opportunity to show off his skills and responsibility to a certain Omega with the sweetest smile ever, were all really good motives in Daichi’s book to volunteer for the job, especially after said Omega had offered to keep him company for a while. 

They had decided to stop to rest after noticing that the eerily quiet demeanor from the never ending whiny prince -Iwaizumi’s words- was a result of a sudden high fever. He had assured the rest of the group that he felt fine, that they should continue on their path arguing that the night was better to move without being noticed. But after a close call from him almost falling from the Alpha’s back, they decided to rest and try to lower the fever a bit.

After a much needed meal, provided mostly by Hinata and his provisions; which now that he noticed, were running out fast, Suga and Daichi had came to enjoy the calmness of the night, talking about nothing in particular, the Alpha trying to make the Omega comfortable enough and Sugawara too conscious of the other’s intentions, just kept on the conversation going, enjoying the familiarity and comfiness that emanated from the Alpha.

After checking up on Oikawa one last time, he seated back at the side of the Alpha, admiring the night sky with a little wider smile in comparison to his previous days. 

“Is he sleeping?” Daichi asked the Omega.

“I’m not sure, but at least he is resting with Iwaizumi. Apparently that did the trick.” Sugawara replied a bit worried. “I think he may be overstressed and with a bit of a cold, all the current emotions aren’t really good for his body, especially after being suppressing his hormones for so long.”

“How come?” Daichi asked. “Don’t Omegas do that? You know, for a better handle on them?”

“Yeah, only on certain occasions though.” Suga crossed his arms before continuing. “The problem is getting out of the suppressants so suddenly. It brings a lot of stress and unbalance to the body.” Suga sighed. “It’s basically a shock to his system, especially if he has gone so long without regulating it normally. I can only imagine how his heats are going to be without them.” He smirked mischievously.

But after hearing the mention of the word out loud, Sugawara stopped. Gears turning in his head placing pieces together. Oikawa’s body hadn’t gotten the time to regulate itself after his capture, what? 6 days ago? His hormones were probably fighting over and making him over sensitive to different stimulations. Crankiness? Check. Crying? Check. Need for physical contact? Check. His almost drop on their first meeting should have been telling enough for Suga to notice, he just assumed the prince was just really scared. Add the constant stress and lack of sleep and Suga was wondering how the prince hadn’t crumbled before. 

He remembered how the prince had started showing visible signs of feeling unwell only after they met Iwaizumi. _When they kissed_. When clearly his Omegan’s instincts craved for the touch and appraise of his Alpha. Oikawa’s Omega body was reawakening.

“Oh no.” Suga’s eyes became wider and wider as his mind kept on completing the puzzle. “Oikawa is going through a really problematic balance.” He said with the feeling of utmost dread in his words. 

As if the world was just waiting for Suga to finish putting the pieces together, a faint sweet smell came to his nostrils. It wasn’t as intense as if it were a real heat, but the effect was instantly the same. 

“What do you mean-” Daichi left the words hanging as he started sniffing the air in confusion. 

With seconds to react, Suga jumped over the Alpha and enclosed his nose and mouth with his hands. 

“Daichi-san.” He said as he laid on top of the Alpha who just looked at him in a mixture of surprise and confusion. “I need you to focus on me. I need you to hold your breath or this could go seriously wrong.” He pleaded. “At the count of three I’ll release your face. You need to hold your breath for as long as I tell you, ok?” Sugawara remained calm during the whole interaction, meanwhile Daichi’s pulse kept on getting quicker and quicker, something trying to push through his insides begging to take control. “Daichi-san.” Sugawara repeated. “I need you to nod if you understood.” 

He waited for the captain to nod briefly.

“Okay. Relax. Deep breaths. One. Two. Three!” He counted, taking his hands from the mouth and nose of the Alpha and moving them quickly to rip part of his already torn left sleeve. He rubbed it effusively against his scent glands and took the mint and honeysuckle flower that he still kept on the pocket of his clothes. “I hope you don’t mind that it’s my scent, but it won’t hold otherwise.” Sugawara said as he put the plants in the cloth and folded it, pressing it against the nose of the still unmoving captain. “Try breathing through this. Don’t remove it!” He said as the Alpha sniffed it and tried to talk, only for the fabric to be pressed against his face by the hands of the Omega. “Do you smell the sweet smell from before?” Suga asked rushedly. 

The Alpha gave another try, the only smell he perceived was the now distinct smell of vanilla, sugar, mint and honeysuckle. The mix wasn’t unpleasant, but it certainly was a lot to take in to actually enjoy it. Remembering that the Omega had asked a question, he shook his head to answer, clearly Sugawara wasn’t expecting a verbal one.

Suga sighed in relief. “Good! Now, do not take it off. If you feel any other scent but the one from the cloth, hold your breath and tell me, I’ll scent it again.” 

Daichi looked at him confused, still not grasping the entirety of the situation. 

“The sweet smell is Oikawa. He is _calling_ for his Alpha.”

Daichi’s eyes widened. He hated not being able to ask the questions he needed.

Suga removed himself from Daichi and offered him a hand to help him off the ground. 

“Quick! If we don’t take Oikawa now, the whole pack of hunters will be here in a matter of minutes.” He pulled Daichi along as they returned to see a struggling Hinata growling at a very protective and equally fang bearing Iwaizumi. 

“You stubborn blockhead!” He snarled at the knight who was holding Oikawa tightly as the brunette whimpered softly from the tension. “I’m not trying to take him from you! If we don’t move now, the hunters will come for us!” 

“Hinata!” 

Hinata turned to look at Suga with hopeful eyes.

“Suga! Help me out here! He doesn’t want to move Oikawa!” Hinata tried to get closer to the pair only for Iwaizumi’s growling to become more intense.

“Don’t you dare touch him!” He snapped.

Daichi tried to move closer, but Sugawara stopped him.

“No. If you were to intervene, he could get even more violent and there is no way that you can hold your breath long enough to not breathe in Oikawa’s scent. Two irrational Alphas is something we really don’t need right now.”

“So what? We just leave him?” Hinata asked, scandalized. “Suga! We can’t!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then what?”

“I’m thinking!” Suga snapped back, trying to think of ways to calm Iwaizumi and take back Oikawa. But after that, what? With Oikawa in his actual condition, it’s as if they still had a huge red shiny arrow pointing towards their location.

Just when things couldn’t turn for the worse, the rustling of nearby plants caught their attention. Hinata and Suga tensed, meanwhile Daichi marched forward, putting himself between the rustling leaves and the Omegas. They had finally run out of luck.

“Iwaizumi!” A voice called from the shadows as a man with dark hair and thick eyebrows came pushing through. He panted as he made his way to the group. 

He stopped a few feet from Daichi, taking in the scenery as he blinked in astonishment at the sight.

“You… you found the prince!” He blurted out excitedly, getting closer to the knight still holding the prince tightly only to receive a reverberating warning growl as answer. “Hey! What’s with you?”

Suga’s brain started working again. 

“You! Are you a Beta?!” 

“Huh. Yeah. Why? What’s going on?” Matsukawa begged for answers as Suga started to move again. “Just who are you people?” He arched one eyebrow in total confusion, not expecting this amount of people within the group.

“No time for that. Oikawa is blasting pheromones and if we don’t move _now_ , we are going to get caught.” Hinata chimed in as an introduction.

“Shit!” Matsukawa turned to grab Iwaizumi by the shoulders in such a swift movement that the Alpha didn’t even have time to growl at him. “Iwaizumi!! This is bad! Ushiwaka is on the move! He’s gone hunting!” He panicked as he shook the shoulders of the knight, finally snapping some sense into him to make him stop growling.

“Ushijima?” Iwaizumi mumbled as he started to regain some of himself.

Suga was repeating what he had done previously for Daichi, offering the fabric to the Alpha knight. “Use this, it will help to keep a clear mind.”

Iwaizumi shook his head, clearing the fog that had cloyed his functioning, rational brain. “It’s okay. I got it. I got it.” He moved Oikawa to his back carefully. “I can do this. Let’s go.” He said as he stood up with some effort.

The group started moving in a running pace when the clear indication that they didn’t know where to go hit them.

“To where now?!” Iwaizumi howlered.

“Out of here!” Hinata cried out. 

“But how? Didn’t you say that the whole place is closed off?” Suga asked back.

“Not all of it.” Matsukawa chimed in as he huffed his reply. “If we go past the hunter’s camping site we could make it to the entrance. That’s the only exit.”

“And how do you plan to make it through without the hunters or retainers stopping us?” Iwaizumi debated.

“There is a fat chance that there is no one on the campsite at the moment! Ushijima was nowhere near and the twins went to mark his prey. Kageyama has been out of commission for a while. It’s perfect!” Matsukawa grinned. “They won’t even notice it!”

“It’s our best shot.” Suga supported the idea.

“More like our only shot.” Iwaizumi finished. “Okay, lead the way.” 

Matsukawa signalled them to go left and the rest followed him into the depths of the woods.

It hadn’t been long into their sprint when the whole group felt the same shivering air cutting their breath, making their knees weak and legs heavy. Immediately after, the scent flared the Omegas nostrils. Hinata choked, Suga gasped and Oikawa let out a whimper. 

They were forced to stop, the only one to keep on moving was the very startled Matsukawa. “What are you doing? Aren’t we in a hurry?” He asked the visible shaken group.

“What is _that_?” Sugawara asked as a cold sensation grabbed him by the neck.

“Ushijima.” Iwaizumi replied with his eyes wide. He tried not to, but his instincts were demanding him to remain unmoving and pliant.

The group was thinking the exact same thing. They weren’t going to make it.

Hinata felt the similar feeling from before. The inferiority, the imposing aura, the dread at the idea of defying the Alpha. He remembered the degrading look from the man and the stoic voice that destroyed Hinata’s self worth. 

The same fire that had been burning brightly since he had started competing with the blue eyed Alpha -Kageyama, he reminded himself- came to shake him from his stupor. He could help. He had to help. He looked at Oikawa’s feverish face, the promise he made still fresh in his mind. Natsu’s face smiling at him. He closed his hands into fists as his whole body shook from determination, fear and the need to prove himself to the Alpha who had belittled him before.

“I’ll do it.” He mumbled.

The whole group looked back at him.

“What?” Suga asked.

“I’ll distract him.” Hinata said, a sudden fiery and determined glare in his eyes that made even Iwaizumi recoil back at the intensity.

“What are you talking about, little guy?” Matsukawa intervened.

“He is drawn by Oikawa’s scent, right?” Hinata asked as the rest of the group tried to follow his line of thought. “If I get scented by Oikawa while you cover his real scent, I can give you time for you to reach the exit.” He said without faltering. His back straight and his eyes piercing.

“Hinata, what on-” 

“Okay.” Iwaizumi cut Suga short.

“What?! No way! You can’t put Hinata in a risk like that!” Sugawara put himself between the knight and Hinata, a protective growl coming from his throat.

“Suga!” The ginger cried out, making the other Omega falter and look back at him with a betrayed expression in his face. “The more time we waste deciding what to do, the closer the Alpha gets to us.” Hinata’s tone didn’t give any sign of wavering nor fear. “I want to do it.” He said a little softer before shaking his head and looking back up to the group with a look that could only be described as feral. “I _need_ to do it. I’m going to put that Alpha in his place and join you later outside.”

The group stared back at him. Something in his eyes, in his posture, in his whole demeanor made them believe that he could.

“We’ll wait for you outside then. Don’t you dare fail. Shittykawa would never forgive you.” Iwaizumi said as he lowered the feverish prince down for Hinata to be scented.

“I don’t like this plan Hinata, not one bit.” Suga fretted as the ginger proceeded to be marked by Oikawa’s limp limbs, Iwaizumi helping him.

“I know.” Hinata replied solemnly. 

“Oikawa would be against it too if he were in a position to argue.” Suga tried. A hand trying to reach the ginger in an attempt to make him stay. 

Hinata grabbed the hands of the other Omega and gave them a little squeeze. “Have a little faith in me, okay Suga?” He smiled brightly before he started running in the opposite direction of the group.

Iwaizumi then proceeded to scent the prince, followed by Daichi as to cloy it even more. 

Sugawara looked at the mop of ginger head getting lost in the dark of the woods, the light of the moon the only guide to push him any further into it. He felt a soft calming weight on his shoulder. He looked back up to meet the concerned eyes of Captain Sawamura. Suga tapped the hand fondly before adding a soft “thank you” and with the weight of the world in his shoulders, he followed the group as they continued their advance towards the camping site.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Running covered in the prince’s heat-like scent through a completely dark and unlit forest with only the moon’s radiance as a source of light, knowing that there was a very dangerous man looking for said prince... Was maybe not the brightest plan Hinata had come up in his life, but he couldn’t deny it had been effective. 

He could hear now the galloping sounds of hoofs not that far away from his current location. He knew that it wasn’t possible to outrun a horse. He wasn’t stupid, his only mission was to try to to put the most amount of distance between him and Oikawa for the group to make it safely out of the woods. He just needed more time. More speed. Even one centimeter could be the difference between the prince’s safety and his capture.

He dodged at the last second the too low branch that appeared from nowhere. He was trying to hide himself by marching through the more dense parts of the woods, assuming that that could cut the advantages a horse gave the hunter. If he had issues making it through it, a horse certainly would have it worse. 

Nevertheless, the relentless chase of the Alpha seemed to not be affected by his strategy at all. He felt him closer and closer and he hadn’t even made a significant distance to actually be called helpful. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. He had to think of something else, a faster and more effective way.

The half second distraction was all that it took for a branch to hit him square in the face, halting his sprint, throwing him to the ground and making him roll on it. He stood up and huffed as he grabbed his swollen cheek, his nose and eyebrow had been cut and warm drops of blood ran down his face. He barely had time to whine and remember what he was running from when the whole area was bathed with the upcoming light, like his own personal sunrise. He almost suffered from whiplash at how fast he turned his head to look at the source of all of it.

In front of him, in all his glory, was Ushijima Wakatoshi. The casted shadows on his face made the prince look even more frightening, his eyes glowering at the Omega staring back at him. By the expression on his face and the way his knuckles tightened at the torch he was holding, he was definitely not happy about being deceived.

“Why are you here.” The Alpha didn’t phrase it as a question, although he apparently wanted an answer as he remained stoically quiet, his unnerving presence paralyzing the other male. 

Hinata cleaned the blood from his face with the back of his hand as he stood as still as he could, resisting all the impulses that begged him to buckle and beg for forgiveness at his boldness.

Ushijima narrowed his eyes even more before huffing in annoyance. “I don’t have the time to waste on someone like you.” He pulled the reins of his horse to make it turn.

Hinata’s gaze fell to the floor. Shrouded in darkness as he was, Ushijima couldn’t see the shaking fists of the boy nor how his mouth contorted as his teeth grinded in _anger_.

“That’s the second time you have looked down upon me.” He growled as Ushijima stopped, surprised that the other had even replied to his words. Wasn’t the Omega aware of his status? He was about to turn to look at the other boy, when a flashing orange movement came directly at him and jumped right in front of his horse as he growled loudly.

Both horse and rider reeled back at the sudden movement. The horse’s fright was strong enough to stand in his hind legs bucking restlessly against Ushijima’s attempts to calm it down. The man was thrown down with a strong enough bucking from the horse and managed to roll out of the way as a frantic hoof from the now runaway animal almost stomped him on his face.

The movement of light to his side made him turn his head from the retreating stallion to the figure standing now in front of him. The amber eyes of Hinata were piercing and glaring as sharp daggers. He had picked up the discarded torch from Ushijima and holding it with one hand, he pointed it on the direction of the face of the gaping Alpha. The prince kept holding the stare as his brain tried to put in order what had just happened. 

An Omega. A weak unworthy Omega had made a fool of him, taken his horse and light in the process. He hadn’t even been able to see how he had done it. 

Ushijima blinked at the Omega once more. His previous prejudice about the ginger being nothing but a tender and fragile pup was quite difficult to place in the glaring bloodied face that looked down at him with feral anger.

“Who is looking down at whom now.” Hinata broke the silence with the coldest tone he could muster. His heart was beating a mile a minute and even with his unfazed voice and courage, his whole body vibrated by what he had just done. What he had just proven to the Alpha in front of him. _Yes. You are on the floor because of me_. 

Knowing that the shock would only last a couple of seconds, Hinata started to move again. He turned slowly, fearing to take his sight from the man as if his eyes were the thing that was pinning him down to the ground, keeping him from moving. He turned completely, managing to take a good couple of brazen steps away from the Alpha, when his whole body froze itself at the sound of a distant chuckle.

As an instinctual response, he turned to shine a light to the source of it, immediately cowering and shivering at the sight of the eeriest smile he had seen in his life. Kageyama’s scowls? Nah. They had nothing against the dread that came over Hinata at the sight of Ushijima’s smile. 

They locked eyes for a second as the man stood up, brushed himself and took a step closer to Hinata. The Omega could hear his heart trying to jump out of his throat, his knees trembled and he felt the same panic that consumed him on the very first day. All his instincts rooted him in place and the pheromones of the Alpha burned and numbed his mind and senses. He started to hyperventilate at the slow approach of the man when the image of a pair of blue eyes snapped him from the trance. 

Right. He was not going to get caught. He had promised to beat Kageyama and getting caught now, would only make the other jerk laugh at his weakness. 

He couldn’t waste any more time. He may not have been able to outrun a horse, but a man… That was doable.

He turned on his heels and started his dash. Immediately after, the Alpha gave chase.

Hinata could feel the other man behind him, every step he took, he felt as if the Alpha took two instead. He was fast, scarily so. The only thing in his favor was the light coming from the torch in his right hand, making it possible to look for ways to scurry towards, and even if the torch could make the other man to spot him in the darkness, the way the Omega reeked was a much bigger hindrance to his escape. He chose to keep the light, at least he would be able to find his way through the darkest parts of the forest that way.

Without much guide to pinpoint his current location, Hinata just kept on running, huffing and puffing as the never tiring Alpha kept his pace. The Omega just had to make time, tire the other out. 

A crunching loud sound made him peek with the corner of his eye at the ever looming shadow coming from behind, reacting at the very last second, he ducked his head as he slid through the momentum, missing by inches the claws of Ushijima. He rocked on his feet to speed up and turn to his left as the Alpha, unable to change directions as quickly as him, forced himself to a halt skidding along the floor a couple of meters away from him.

Shaken at the close call, Hinata came to the decision that he had to find a way to leave the other man behind. He needed a physical gap, a ledge, a cliff, something as what he had been using to leave the other Alphas at bay. If he only knew where he was. The darkness of the forest muddled his mind and senses, it appeared so different than what he was used to at day.

The Alpha was back on his tail again. He could hear the grunts and puffs of the other man now, and there was nothing at sight that could help him get out. 

He felt the change in the pheromones at the lunge of the Alpha before hearing any movement, but this time when he tried to dodge, the other was prepared for it.

Ushijima caught the bottom of his right leg as he tried to jump out of the way, pulling him up by his ankle as the Alpha straightened himself. With his mind running wild with adrenaline, Hinata used the swing of Ushijima’s movement to spin himself and attack the Alpha’s hand with the torch. The man let out a growling hiss, releasing the hold on the Omega’s leg on reflexes and pain.

Hinata fell to the floor with a huffing sound. He rolled over and out of the way from Ushijima, scrambling quickly back to his feet, too scared to let go of the torch in his hand, the only means to defend himself, his survival instincts in overdrive. He could still _feel_ the hold of Ushijima’s hand on his ankle. He could notice how the tears were prickling his eyes. This was no fun. This was so much different than when Kageyama chased him down all those times. This was fear. This was dread. And the Alpha was now pissed.

There was no way he was going to outrun him. He was going to get caught. Something in his gut just told him that the Alpha was not going to play with him as Kageyama had. He wasn’t going to let him go. Not now. Not when Hinata had assaulted him. He was going to pay for what he had done. He knew it. He couldn’t help the quick glance at the Alpha’s figure he so desperately was trying to leave behind. 

Ushijima licked his hand as the burning sensation still tingled on it. His fangs were prodding his lips, his animalistic grin painted his face once more. Now he was feeling it. He had no doubt in his mind that he would catch up with the shrimp, that he would beat him and show him how superior an Alpha could be. But right now he was completely sure… that he _wanted_ to.

Ushijima started his chase once more, the Omega had made some distance, but even if the scent wasn’t as strong as it was, the moving light of the torch just screamed the direction the Omega was taking. He chuckled at the dumb decision of the ginger. It was as if the other man was begging to be followed. And who was Ushijima to let go of his prey’s wishes?

The ginger was getting close to his limits. Even as the monster that he was, his legs could only give so much. He had to find a way. Hiding would prove fruitless. His scent was a dead giveaway and the terrain was proving useless to provide him a physical wall that the Alpha could not follow. He had made some distance as the other man licked his wounds… But it was a matter of time before he followed and caught on his trail. 

“Think… Think!” Hinata cried to himself. “You were lucky that he didn’t grab you by the hand, if it weren’t for the torch-”

An idea. 

A reckless, dangerous and probably stupidly bad idea.

He looked at the torch in his hands with more determination than he had ever had. He kept on running as he looked around, stopping quickly as he lowered the torch to the biggest pile of mulch he could find, igniting it in seconds. Barely breathing, he kept on setting the area ablaze, kicking pieces of loose shrubbery that were already on fire towards deeper parts of the forest. The overgrown weeds, leaves, bark and dried foliage that decorated the never trimmed and indomitable forest helping its fast spread. 

Satisfied with his work and afraid to spend one more second that gave the Alpha the chance to catch up to him, he tossed the torch away, hoping that the last moving light would be enough to distract Ushijima.

With his plan in the hands of luck and hope, he turned and started his retreat for what he hoped was the last time. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The crackling noise on the outside of what had been his shelter caught his attention. Kageyama was feeling much better, his wounds weren’t pulling on him as they previously had and after knowing that the Hunting Grounds was actually sealed off, he had decided to give the ginger a bit of an advantage, since their next chase would be their last. So, feeling renewed and awakened, he stepped out of the cave to inspect the strange noise.

The first thing that caught his attention was the strong smell of smoke and the odd color of the morning sky, but when he heard the caws of the fleeing birds and the rustling and clacking of the vegetation, his brain made the connection. This was no morning light. The forest was on fire.

“Hinata.” 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The amusing thing about reckless ideas is that sometimes, they work. The scary part of reckless ideas is that sometimes, they work too well.

The dried vegetation. The unkempt dead trees of the forest. The amount of weeds and undergrowth that just kept on giving endless supplies of fuel to the fire, were now the reason that had Hinata running for his life as the fire and the density of the smoke kept on rerouting his escape. 

He didn’t count on being lost when he started the fire. He just wanted a way to put a stop to Ushijima. Of course he wasn’t thinking of the consequences of lighting a forest on fire. His dumb brain was just thinking on putting up a wall between him and the hunter. Now his thoughts were torn with questions and fears. Were the other Omegas safe? Had Oikawa and the rest made it out of the forest before everything turned for the worse?

A coughing fit made his already crumbling legs to surrender in defeat, falling to his knees as he covered his mouth and nose from the smoke. After regaining his composure, he started walking again. If he could just make it to the river. He could be able to pass the worst of it. Or at least he hoped.

A crackling sound made him look up, his remaining strength barely helping him into throwing himself out of the way to dodge the falling burning branch. He moved again, with a sense of urgency, noticing how his legs lagged and his vision started to grow blurry. He managed to get to a clearing before he trampled with his own feet. He tried to stand up again, only to fall at the weight of his own body. The exhaustion and his lungs finally forcing him to stop.

He coughed horribly as his lungs protested for air. The corner of his eyes started to go black as his mind was starting to shut down. Well, hadn’t he said that he preferred to die than to be bonded? 

He chuckled.

_Maybe the universe did hear me._

Silence enveloped the slowly breathing boy, his mind refusing to acknowledge the noises the rest of the world was making.

_“...nata!”_

_“..inata!”_

_“Hinata!”_

Someone was calling his name? He opened his eyes as he thought he saw a blurry figure making his way towards him.

_Who-_ He mused at himself as his mind decided to betray him once more, showing him the face of the blue eyed Alpha. Like one last mock as his consciousness slipped away from him.

“I’m here…” He mumbled softly, barely audible as his eyes drooped down and his body went limp.

The footsteps made their way to the side of the unconscious Omega. Strong arms lifted him delicately as the Alpha stared at the barely breathing boy. 

“I was wrong.” The stoic low voice of the olive haired Alpha came to reverberate in the silence of the night. “Fighting spirit, cunning, determination and bravery. There are different ways to show your worth after all.” A smile ran across Ushijima's face as he made his way out of the fire with the sleeping Omega cradled in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ushijima’s animalistic smile is based on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKBcjdM08EI&ab_channel=ANIMEVS (2:09) That smile is basically the only reason why I decided to include Ushijima in this fic… That thing is scary.
> 
> Hehehehe I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I thought about cutting this in two, but I just wanted to keep the story going. Don’t hate me.
> 
> Hope to see you in the next one!


	12. The spoils of the hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for waiting! I'm sorry if I took a little longer this time, we had our dog spayed and had been playing nurse ever since hahahaha!
> 
> I noticed some of you got confused by the ending of the previous chapter, I hope this one helps to solve all your doubts. I’m pretty sure that updating the last one without sleeping it over affected the writing. So this time, even though I had it ready yesterday, I decided to re-read it today with a more functional brain. Hahaha!
> 
> Thank you again for all the likes, the hits and comments! (I can’t believe we are at 500 kudos already! And 8000 hits!) I’m so happy that you guys are enjoying this! It makes it so special! Hope you like this chapter!

The sweet warm sun rays that filtered through the window and into the bedroom felt like soft pecks on his cheeks. The heavy duvet covering him was a blessing to his aching body. He felt safe and warm in the cosiness of his little nest of sorts. He turned to his side and hugged the covers tightly as he snuggled the soft pillow under his head. It felt so good. So refreshing. A blissful feeling that he hadn’t felt in ages. The sudden idea of needing to add a couple of soft blankets and a few more pillows gave him a chuckle. It had been so long since he had felt the need to nest. Heck. It had been so long since he had longed for staying in bed more than what was strictly necessary, but now… His tired and depleted body just begged for him to drift back into sleep. It was so good to be back in his bed. In his bedroom. Cozy and warm and -

Oikawa’s eyes snapped open as he jolted up, wincing as all his muscles cried in pain and fatigue. 

He was in his bed. In his room. Under the safety of his blankets and duvet.

_ Am I dead? Was it all a dream? _

The throbbing knee came to answer for him. He was very much alive and awake. It had all been real.

The surprise led to confusion, the furrowed eyebrows were changed by the pricking sensation in his eyes as the tears started to come with the new overwhelming feeling; a mixture between gratefulness, joy and utter disbelief of his reality. His body slacked at the released tension from before unable to hold back the tears that kept on falling as he cried silently, tightening the grip on his duvet as the idea of him being safe started to anchor in his mind.

He must have made some kind of noise though, as the door of his bedroom creaked softly as a familiar face peeked in to check on him. Oikawa didn’t even hear the knight calling his name from the door, but he did smell the tray of delicious breakfast that came with him. He looked up with watery eyes as the overjoyed smile spread slowly on the Omega’s face.

“Oikawa! You are awake.” Iwaizumi noticed as he rushed his way to the prince’s side.

Oikawa barely gave the knight time to put the tray down before throwing himself to the other’s arms and hugging him tightly, almost desperately in a messy hug, a hurtful one even, raw in emotion and filled with devotion. 

“Thank you.” Oikawa’s voice came out as barely a whisper, incapable of mustering any sound louder than the measly murmur he got out, too many feelings fighting to take him down, but it managed to reach the Alpha’s ears nonetheless.

Iwaizumi leaned into the hug, reciprocating it with his own, equally raw and filled with emotion. They stayed like this, enjoying the other’s embrace, communicating so much but saying so little. In his actions and in his words, they were promising the world and all its corners to each other. 

Letting go had been hard, both having the need of feeling each other as a remainder of sorts, to ingrain the thought that they were safe and that the danger, the hunt, the torture was over. They settled for holding hands in a non verbal agreement while Oikawa ate his breakfast slowly, thousand questions whirling in his head that the Alpha refused to answer until the prince had finished it. The problem was that, the more he thought about them, the more stressed he became, making him want to eat less, making the whole thing to go slower and slower, and the more time it took, the more stressed Oikawa became.

“Please Iwa-chan. Just tell me what happened!” Oikawa begged fearing that he wouldn’t be able to swallow the rice in his mouth.

“I already told you. The hunt is over, the festival finished earlier than expected. Now eat.” The Alpha grunted, ignoring the desperate look on his friend's eyes. “You need to rest and recover.”

Fed up and unable to control himself, Oikawa slammed his fist on the tray by his lap. The dinerware clattered and the liquids turned over. He didn’t care. Iwaizumi glared at the prince, but Oikawa’s scowl and enraged expression were equally as strong.

“Bullshit. Where is everybody then.” Oikawa growled, knowing that the Alpha would cave if he put a little more pressure in. He hated to use the hierarchy card, always having considered his friend as an equal, but there was no time to waste. If the Alpha was keeping him from knowing, it was because  _ something _ must have happened, and if something had happened, Oikawa couldn’t waste time; he had to start making plans for things to un-happen. “Hajime.” He called authoritatively. “As your prince, I order you to tell me. Where is everybody.”

Iwaizumi huffed in annoyance. “I really hate it when you demand things like that.” The Alpha said in a soft growl, but Oikawa’s expression didn’t falter. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Fine. Fine. I’ll tell you, but keep eating.” He shoved the bowl of rice back to Oikawa’s hands. He sighed. “Everyone’s fine. Sugawara is currently in one of the guest’s rooms on this floor. Yahaba is taking care of guarding the door, as technically the festival is not over till tonight, so it’s better to be extra careful.”

“Good. And the others? What about Hinata?” Oikawa asked promptly.

“We are still waiting for Hanamakki to finish his report as all hunters must have abandoned the city by now. Matsu is keeping an eye outside your door.” Iwaizumi completely ignored the Omega’s query.

The prince furrowed his eyebrows. “And Hinata?” Oikawa repeated. A little more demanding than before, fearing the safety of the Omega more than the need to hear about the reports of a very capable knight.

“Daichi-san is currently making sure that Tobio is held in his quarters. Apparently he has reacted quite violently at how the current events made the hunt to end early. Right now he is endangering himself and the rest of-”

“Hajime!” Oikawa cut the knight’s explanation of his brother’s unimportant tantrum. If little Tobio was so desperate to go and hunt back Hinata, he could kiss Oikawa’s fists for all he cared. And here he was hoping that Tobio had changed at least  _ a little _ after what Hinata had mentioned about their run-ins. “Where. Is. Shouyo.” 

Oikawa’s death glare was forcing the hand of the knight. He couldn't hide it any longer. He didn’t want to reveal what little he knew about the whole situation, but he had to come clean. He owed it to the orange haired boy. If it hadn’t been for him, they wouldn’t have made it back. It was because of the little brave and selfless Omega that his prince was now safely tucked under the covers of his bed. 

But he  _ knew _ . Iwaizumi knew how badly Oikawa was going to blame himself about the whole situation. How Oikawa was going to break down and do something stupid and reckless because that’s what he did. He cared. And because things like him caring so much was why Iwaizumi loved the prince, so he couldn’t be blamed if he wanted to hide the truth about the little Omega’s disappearance for a little while longer. 

Oikawa’s eyes became demanding and he couldn’t help it. He deserved to know.

“We don’t know.” The truth came as a cold reality check for Oikawa. A cold bucket of water that made him freeze at the thought.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Oikawa asked with almost no inflection in his voice.

“Before I tell you what happened.” Iwaizumi grabbed the hand of Oikawa with both of his, only making the prince tense even more. “You must promise me that you won’t do anything stupid. That you won’t blame anybody, not even yourself.” Iwaizumi squeezed the other man’s hand tighter. “And that we will wait for Hanamakki’s report before you even think about doing anything.”

“I can’t promise anything of the sort.” Oikawa glared angered. “What. Happened.”

“Promise me.” Iwaizumi glared back.

Oikawa just huffed tensely. He knew the knight wouldn’t cave in this time. He rolled his eyes before exhaling a very exasperated “fine, I promise.”

Iwaizumi visibly relaxed at that. He took a deep breath before starting. 

“After we stopped to rest last night, after you fell asleep, an alluring scent started to come from you. Matsukawa came just in time to warn us that Ushijima may have taken notice, as he was hunting in the area.” He swallowed while assessing Oikawa’s reactions. “We were running away towards the exit, but Ushijima found our trail, so…” Iwaizumi was wondering how to retell this event for Oikawa not to be hurt about it.

“No...” Oikawa gasped. His eyes widened at the realization. He knew how feisty the boy was, he had been telling and glorifying his previous victories and brazen actions again and again. But this was Ushijima. There was no way. 

The knight bit his bottom lip. “I’m afraid he did.” Iwaizumi avoided the deep hurt look on his friend’s eyes. “He offered to become a decoy and drive away the Alpha from us.” The knight stopped for a second to give his friend the time to process everything. “The truth is... If he hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t have been able to make it back.” Iwaizumi finished softly.

Oikawa’s chest tightened, this was his fault. Hinata had sacrificed himself for  _ him _ . “Why didn’t you stop him!?” Oikawa cried out only for the knight to avoid his gaze in silence. Of course Iwaizumi would have chosen to save Oikawa before Hinata, and if this was indeed the only way the knight thought the prince could be saved, it was a real no brainer. “Why didn’t you wait for him then!? Why aren’t we sending someone to bring him back! Now! Ask Daichi! I don’t care about stupid Tobio and his tantrum! Go and get him ba-”

“Oikawa!” Iwaizumi grabbed the other’s shoulders tightly, grounding him. “We can’t do that. Not anymore.” Oikawa stared at him back in confusion. Before the Omega could voice his question though, Iwaizumi provided. “There is no forest to look for Hinata. It was burned down. The hunting grounds are no more.”

“No… more?” Oikawa’s voice accompanied the tone of his puzzled expression. “What do you mean. I- what happened?”

“We aren’t sure. We weren’t there when it happened.” Iwaizumi let go of the other’s shoulder, straightening as he took Oikawa’s hand once again and held it between his, staring at it as he continued. “After we split with Hinata, we managed to make our way to the hunter’s campsite. Matsukawa was right, there were no hunters there, and the only retainers on the lookout were some of Daichi’s underlings, so they just looked the other way when Daichi gestured to them to do so.” 

Iwaizumi recalled the memory of a very flustered Enoshita and Kinoshita clearly having morality issues about their captain being in a place where he shouldn’t be. He thanked the good nature and firm hand of Daichi for making such trusting and devoted lackeys. 

“Once we made it out of the grounds, the hard part was to take you and Suga back to the castle and put you under protection.” He placed his stare on Oikawa’s once more, and gave the Omega’s hand a soft squeeze. “Matsukawa stayed behind waiting in case Hinata managed to get out of the forest, before Daichi could go back for them. At least that was the plan.” He said more somberly. “We managed to dodge some of the guards and relied maybe a little too much on Sawamura’s position to make it into the castle and to your room, but-” The knight bit his bottom lip as something akin to regret came to flood his words. “There was no way to avoid it, I guess.” He sighed. “By the time we made it to your door, there were already too many eyes, noses and ears around you, Oikawa.” 

Oikawa stiffened. During the whole festival he had been aware that starting from now, there was going to be people that knew about the truth of his dynamics. The ease of the acknowledgement of his situation had been a defense mechanism his own mind had come up with at the moment, preventing him from the stress about the outcome of it. That way he could focus solely on his immediate survival. But now, that the revelation of his gender had followed him to the inside of the castle walls, it made him feel uneasy and endangered even in his own bedroom.

How was he going to face the reality that the guards, the other royals, the servants that dressed and fed him, now knew the truth? How was he going to face Tobio? Was he even aware already? He swallowed. It wasn’t the time to dwell on that. He still didn’t know what had happened to his friend. Currently, Oikawa had Iwaizumi to take care of his back. Shouyo? Shouyo had no one.

“It’s okay.” He settled for easing his and his friend’s mind. There was no point in crying over spilt milk. “We’ll figure it out later, just keep going.” 

Iwaizumi bit the inside of his cheek as he restrained himself from telling the prince how the rumors had spread unbridled around the castle in the day he had been knocked out unconscious, and how more than just one “clumsy servant” came close to the prince’s door asking if they needed anything before tripping over themselves so they could get closer to the door, in hopes of opening it by mistake and corroborate the rumors. There hadn’t been a means to stop them from talking, considering that all the people involved that could have done something about it, were unable to leave their current posts. 

He swallowed, trying to swat off the idea of how hard things were going to be from now on. 

“I kept guard on your door. Yahaba stood outside Suga’s room and Daichi went back to the forest to look for Hinata...”

  
  


\-----

  
  


Daichi probably made a new time record as he ran all the way back to the Hunting Grounds. He and Iwaizumi had accomplished their mission, but the feeling of debt and gratitude towards the little Omega was what kept on fueling his race towards the forest.

He knew that it was far fetched, but he had hopes that by the time he made it to the forest, Hinata and Matsukawa would have rendezvous already and he would just have to escort them back to the castle, all safe and happy faces. They deserved that. Hinata deserved that. Alas, when he made his way to the hiding spot of Matsu, the Beta just shook his head in disappointment. 

“You don’t think that he was caught, do you?” Matsukawa asked the Alpha.

“If it was Ushijima the one giving chase, there’s a high chance that he is alright.” Daichi replied, helping the other man up. “From what I’ve made out of the man, he is probably determined in only hunting Oikawa. He is an Alpha that puts the hierarchy above all, he wouldn’t disappoint his king.” Daichi reasoned.

“I hope so. For the shrimp’s sake.” Matsu sighed. 

“Why don’t you go back to the castle? I will keep tabs here.” Daichi offered. “Iwaizumi is probably in the need of assistance. Things… are not peachy back in the castle.” Daichi scratched his head in annoyance as he heard the spreading of rumors already plaguing the palace grounds.

“Already?” Matsukawa groaned. “I really hoped more people would be asleep still.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Daichi sighed. “By his scent alone, Oikawa dragged a lot of attention. Add the disappearance of both Iwaizumi and myself for the past days and you get people talking.” 

“I guess everything changes from now on, huh?” The other huffed as he smiled warily.

“I guess it does.” Daichi replied in the same deflated tone. 

Changes were coming; the danger and immediate threats during the remaining days of the festival were their priority, but the true fear was the ignorance about what would become of the prince now that the truth was out there. For now, they just needed to protect him, there was no need to worry any further than that.

“I should get going then. Good luck.” The Beta bowed and made his way back to the castle. Daichi hoped that the cloak of the night was enough for the knight to make it back safely and unseen. Putting more people on the spot would only jeopardize the safety network of the prince.

The Alpha turned to the forest and sat on the floor. He was using the same spot the previous lookout had used, the perfect place for not to be seen and to get a good view at the entrance of the grounds. He dared relax a bit as his muscles ached and complained for their mistreatment. He was overdue for a good rest.

As he cradled himself to lessen the cold, a mixture of anxiety and accomplishment started fighting for his attention. They had done it. They had finally found the prince and brought him back home, all that was left was to help the little Omega. The small boy whose bravery could put some of his own underlings to shame. He now understood what Oikawa saw in Hinata and why he was so overprotective of him in regards to his brother. It was a really weird feeling; the need to protect and admire the Omega at the same time. 

“Please Hinata… just make it safe.” He pleaded to the sky.

While sitting and staring at the nothingness and stillness of the forest, Daichi came to the appreciation that waiting for something to happen was easier said than done. Every little noise drew his attention, making him jump at the possibility of running into action. Time kept on moving forwards and soon the darkness and silence of the night wouldn’t be as merciless and protective as it had been so far. Marching into the castle with an Omega on tow in the middle of the morning rush was something that Daichi was really not looking forward to. 

“Come on. Come on.” He mumbled trying to keep his sanity at the nothingness in front of him. “Please, give me something, anything to know where you are.” He bargained with himself.

It wasn’t much longer for the subtle smoky scent to come to his nostrils. He dismissed the smell as the chilly wind bringing the remnants of the camping site’s bonfire, but the running hooves of startled horses in the distance was what made him start to fear that something may have not been as straightforward as it had seemed. The screaming that came to follow made him recoil in surprise, now  _ knowing _ that something was definitely going on.

“Fire! There’s a fire!” 

He recognized the desperate far away cries of one of the twins. He must have made it to the camp already, the silence of the night carrying his voice up to Daichi.

Daichi sprung up, the urgency on the Alpha’s voice and the now heavy smoky scent filling his head with dread. He made his way out of his hiding spot and choked at the scene. Even from where he was standing, he could see the tall and crisp flames. Dancing beacons of light licking at the night’s sky. Embers painting the heavy smoked sky as if they were stars. 

_ How. When. Why?  _ He screamed internally as he forgot that he was supposed to remain hidden from view. He ran into the forest, he needed information, he needed to do  _ something _ . 

He barely noticed how the Miya twin’s horses rushed past him, retainers following suit and a light grey haired man clutching Osamu’s back as if his life depended on it. He made it to the camping site by the time the sky had turned an eerie hue of orange, purple and red as the smoke started to cloud the nearby area, making it difficult to breathe.

“What happened?” He barked, as the retainers of Shiratorizawa and Karasuno looked back at him in surprise and fear. They couldn’t flee until their princes returned safely for the night and to make things worse, the unknown location of both of them made the whole situation agonizing to the group.

“A fire broke out out of nowhere. It’s spreading dangerously fast!” Ennoshita answered back. 

“Where are the princes?” Daichi demanded.

“Prince Ushijima left camp late in the afternoon. Prince Kageyama has not been sighted in the last two days.” Daichi flinched at the information. “A search party was sent earlier, but they came back with the Inarizaki princes with the news of the fire.”

“Nobody knows where the crown prince is?!” Daichi roared in panic.

The eyes of the knights avoided Daichi’s glare like the plague. 

_ Shit.  _ He cursed internally, his teeth clenched as he thought of what to do. He had to find the prince, now that he was here and aware of the situation, his safety became his responsibility.

“Kinoshita, give me a horse.” Daichi demanded. “You!” He pointed to one of the men that had been shown to have gone to look for Kageyama before. “Where did you look for the prince?” 

“We went east and south from here, we… uhm, we can’t pick up scents.” He replied timidly. “But we are great trackers!” He defended himself quickly. “And there was no evidence of the prince in the area.” 

_ Great.  _ He thought sarcastically. So a Beta team had been in charge of the search with no means of sniffing out the trail of the prince. Daichi didn’t know what he was expecting honestly, Alpha retainers were forbidden to accompany their lieges during the hunt. He would just have to trust them and try to look in the other direction for him. He just hoped that Kageyama wasn’t hiding his scent like Iwaizumi and himself had done.

“I’ll go find him.” He finished tying a piece of cloth around the horse’s mouth and nose before he hopped on it and took a glance at the group that awaited instructions. “The rest of you, chop down trees and clear the area so the fire does not spread as quickly towards this section. Give us as much time as you can to reach the exit safely.” He steadied the horse and gave them a last glance as he pushed down his pocket the second piece of fabric that he had picked from a nearby table before. His safety measure in case the smoke was to thicken during his search. “If he were to return before I do, leave the forest at once. Don’t wait for me.” He kicked the horse into action and rushed into the blazing forest. 

The smoke was rising quickly into the sky, making his advances difficult as he couldn’t pick up the prince’s scent from within. The direction that he set himself in, seemed to be the immediate outlines of the raging fire. If Kageyama was anywhere in there, he was in serious trouble.

As he made it into the raging fire, the heat and the anxiety of his horse were what dictated how much time he had left before succumbing to his own survival instincts. Even though his stubbornness and sense of responsibility were what sprung him into action, there was always the fear that when push came to shove, his self preservation desire would outmatch his loyalty. He gripped the horse’s reins with desperation before his head snapped towards the direction of the prince’s faint scent. He had found a lead.

Daichi let out the breath he had been holding as his lungs emptied with the feeling of joy and gratefulness at the possible trail. He choked on a sudden coughing outburst and proceeded to cover his mouth and nose, it seemed that even if he had found a lead, from this point onwards, all was in the hands of lady luck.

Thankfully, the prince’s voice came to him before the smoke came to cloy completely the direction of Kageyama’s scent. He couldn’t make out what the crown prince was yelling for, but he could  _ feel _ the desperation, even from such a distance. Daichi had to make a longer turn here and there to avoid burning his steed, if the animal panicked and left them stranded, there was no way for both of them to make it out before being calcined by the growing flames. Especially since Daichi didn’t know the current status of the future king. For all he knew, he could be seriously injured and unable to move.

He was eternally grateful when he reached the small clearing and saw that that was not the case at all. His prince was sprinting, rushing from corner to corner in some weird pattern as he launched himself to the ground and then sprang back up sniffing the air. Daichi noticed how his movements seemed weird, erratic, desperate even. He understood when the words started to reach his ears as the deranged cries of Kageyama tried to make through the crisp sounds of the burning trees all around them.

“Hinata! Hinata!!”

He was looking for the Omega. Daichi’s heart plummeted to his stomach.

In all his frenzied race since he noticed the forest fire, the thought of Hinata had slipped his mind. The dreading feeling of guilt crept to his mind as he understood that by his actions, he had forsaken the boy in turn. Responsibilities and his duty to the prince before anything else. That had been his oath when he took the mantle of the prince’s bodyguard, and even if he knew and understood that he had followed what seemed the most logical and rightest path of action, the stabbing feeling in his gut felt as if he hadn’t. 

“Your highness!” Daichi cried out as he reached the boy. He removed the cloth on his face only for the intense wave of acrid and spicy scent of complete and utter desperation hit him hard enough to make him choke and lose his footing. He put the fabric back in place. “Sire! We need to leave, the fire is becoming wilder! If we don’t move now it may be too late-”

“I can’t leave!” Kageyama’s unhinged facial expression was enough to tell Daichi how much out of himself the Alpha was. “He’s around here! I smelled his distress! The trail ends here! He should be close! Help me find him!”

“Your highness!” Daichi grabbed the other Alpha’s forearm only for said Alpha to growl violently and scratch the other man’s wrist in his attempt to be let go. Daichi managed to retract his hand from the man’s arm before any serious damage came to him. He looked up at the Alpha’s face and found the almost slit pupils glaring dangerously at him. A warning threat about what line Daichi should not cross. It was the first time that he had seen such ferocity directed at him. Kageyama had gone feral.

Backing up quickly from the frantic boy, he saw himself currently at a fork in the road. He could help Kageyama look for Hinata around the area, secure the ginger boy and go back to the palace.  _ But. _ There was no real indication that Hinata was  _ actually _ around the area and for one of the greatest noses of the kingdom to lose the Omega’s trail and not being able to re-track him was not a very good sign at all. For all they knew, they would lose the little precious window they had to make their way back and out of the forest unharmed.

The other option was…

“I’m sorry.” He said as the sorrowing feeling of grief kept him in place. An apology meant for two people, but only one of them was there to hear it.

Kageyama completely ignored the words of his knight. He turned on his heels and started to approach the coming flames. “He must have ran back to the-” Kageyama didn’t finish his sentence, as he choked at the sudden force striking him from behind. A direct and precise chop at the back of his neck. He fell to the ground knees first, followed by the rest of his limp body.

Daichi holstered him on his shoulder as he approached the horse and deposited the unconscious Alpha on the saddle. He hopped on once more and made his way back to the entrance. 

By the time he made it to the camping site, the men from Shiratorizawa were long gone, apparently their prince having returned and fleeing with them. Karasuno’s men had been too occupied in making time for their captain to retrieve their prince to even notice. Daichi shouted the orders as the camp came into view, forcing everyone out and back to the castle.

That night, the forest burned bright and intense until dawn came to outshine the ever consuming flames. The rumors of the events that transpired during the hunt spreaded even faster than the wildfire that devoured the Hunting Grounds. 

For many citizens of the kingdom, the ashes of such iconic place was a hurting blow to the pride of the nation, while for many others, it was a beacon of hope, a message against the oppression and resentfulness deep engraved in their hearts. A torch that ignited the desire of change and recognition to a whole group of abused and mistreated people. 

By the time the fire was put down, the hunt could no longer proceed. The wary minds of the regent council of Karasuno advised the foreigner princes and their retainers to return back to their own kingdoms. Gifts were provided and apologies made for ending the festival with such a sour note. The promise of a bigger and more bountiful hunt for next year’s festival was enough for the princes to depart. 

In all honesty though, the unknown cause of the fire that endangered the lives of the heirs of four different kingdoms, including the very crown prince of Karasuno, was seen as a deliberate attempt of assasination on the Royals. Without proof of their innocence and inability to conduct a proper investigation without compromising their relationship with the neighboring kingdoms, the decision to close the castle walls and send everyone back home seemed to be the rightest -and safest- course of action. 

For the princes, however, seeing that the festival was still ongoing outside the now destroyed forest, the need to protect their own catch from other Alphas in the kingdom became a much more pressing matter to them. Without the safety of the crown to house their spoils, any Alpha, royals included, would consider snatching their hunt as fair game, and what more coveted prizes than the last Omegas to be hunted in the Royal Hunting Grounds. After little deliberation and much to lose by staying their welcome, the four princes made their way back to their kingdoms and with them, the three Omegas now in their clutches.

  
  


\-----

  
  


The soothing rocking of the carriage and the ever present warmth that was seeping from whatever he was leaning into, was making it really difficult for him to open his eyes. He felt like his body had been tossed and tumbled repeatedly as how every inch of his body hurt like hell. The little movements he attempted with his legs, brought needles in return, the clear telltale of the abuse the limbs had received the day before. His head was still fuzzy. He was trying so hard to remember the last thing he did before going to sleep but the memories eluded him. He remembered colors, red, crisp oranges and yellows. He remembered feeling the intense heat all around him, much like how he was feeling it to his side.

He felt the taught restraint on his wrists as he tried to move his hands slowly in an attempt to reach the source of the heat, his eyes too heavy with exhaustion to even dare opening them. 

His heart stopped, his brain going wild with the need to piece everything together. His eyes shut even tighter at the fear of acknowledging what or who had tied him up. The images came flashing to the back of his mind. The fire. The chase. The figure coming towards him. His name being called in the distance. The blue eyes he swore were coming for him.

“So you are awake.”

The voice. The stoically terror-inducing voice made Hinata’s whole body still in place. The only thing moving where the now bristly hairs at the back of his neck.

_ No. No. No, no, no, no. _

His heartbeat doubled and tripled as he noticed the source of the voice was awfully close. He needed to check. He needed to verify, but the uneasiness was keeping him from prying his eyes open as he remained leaning into the warm body pressed to his side, paralyzed at the thought that it may be Ushijima after all. He started to quiver as the seconds stretched in the silence.

Another weight came to rest on his shoulder, a hand big enough to almost cover the whole shoulder area of the Omega.

“Are you cold?” 

The man asked as he pushed down gently on Hinata's shoulder, making the Omega to tilt back and face the Alpha. The gentleness in the voice of the other man made Hinata open his eyes in total surprise. Had he been wrong? Was it not the olive haired Alpha?

The narrowed eyes that inspected him carefully made him see that, indeed, it was the Alpha in question the one who had captured him, but the demeanor seemed to be completely out of place coming from him. 

Hinata just kept staring, a dumbfounded expression on his face as he held the stare before moving his head to look at the interior of the carriage he was currently in. Putting aside the luxury of the wooden vehicle and the velvet curtains that blocked the view from the outside, Hinata noticed that there were only three members riding the spacious wagon. Ushijima, himself and a red haired man sitting right in front of them, sporting the spikiest hair and reddest eyes Hinata had ever seen. His staring must have been a little longer than he had intended to as the red haired man arched his brow in a playful and curious stance before leaning towards Hinata.

“Ushi-kun.” The third man started sweetly.

_ Ushi-kun? Did this man _ actually _ address the scariest Alpha on earth so endearingly? _

“Is he mute?” The red haired man cocked his head as he inspected Hinata even closer. “Or is he just dumb?” Hinata flinched, the taunting proving effective as he twitched in place at the insult.

“He is not mute.” Came Ushijima’s monotonous reply. He then stared at Hinata for a long couple of seconds before continuing. “Neither is he dumb.”

The waiting time for the denial of the question hurt even more than if Ushijima had just called him stupid at his face in the first place. The apparent discomfort showed on his face made the red-head burst out in laughter.

“So, shrimp.” He cooed. “I heard that you set the whole place on fire, huh?” The man came to an alarming close distance from the Omega’s face, forcing Hinata to reel back in surprise, bumping into Ushijima once again. He didn’t know who to fear more, the Alpha by his side or the man whose observant, narrowed and intrigued ogling made him feel as if naked in front of him. Like if he was able to reveal each and every little dark secret Hinata had kept in his life. “Why so jumpy little one? I’m not the one who bites.” He said as a grin crept on his face.

Hinata’s eyes widened as saucers at the words, as the awareness of the situation dawned on him. He realized what it meant for him to be sitting in a moving carriage, hands and feet tied up and the hand on his shoulder tightly holding him in place. 

_ He had lost _ . 

After all his efforts, after all his promises, after all the times he had sworn to himself that he would be stronger, faster, smarter and more capable than the hunters. After he had challenged again and again the odds of the game, it had come to this. To the painful reality that he was now at the mercy of the man sitting at his side. 

The fear, the exhaustion, the demoralizing feeling of defeat and helplessness took over his body as he started to shake uncontrollably. The distress scent coming out of him in waves alerting the Alpha that something was wrong. His breath came in hurting puffs unable to control his heartbeat. Before he could thwart it, his body went limp and his mind drifted again into nothingness. With his eyelids weighting more and more with each passing second, he stared into the blackness of his surroundings as he longed for something, for someone, and with the last remnants of his consciousness left, he called for those ever piercing blue eyes one last time.

“Tendou.” The recriminatory warning from Ushijima made the red headed to laugh sheepishly and shrug at what was happening in front of him.

“I just wanted to know what he was like.” He said, leaning back into the seat with his eyes closed unconcerned about the panting Omega clearly in the midst of a panic attack. He tucked his hands behind his head. “I don’t know why you didn’t out him to the palace though, we could have extended our stay till the festival was over.” Tendou peeked at the other man with one eye barely open.

“They would have charged him with arson and attempted murder.” He said as he grip the Omega tighter, remembering from his etiquette classes the points of pressure to subdue and calm an anxious Omega. “I didn’t want that.”

Tendou raised an eyebrow at the explanation. Had he heard correctly? Ushijima hadn't  _ wanted _ to do something? 

“Oh ho ho.” He chuckled in his usual mocking kind of way. “You didn’t want to?” He waited for a reaction from the other man who was too focused on how to calm the orange haired boy. “And why is that? I thought you wanted to behave as a prince through and through.” Tendou kept on teasing, trying to take out the answer from his friend of so little words. 

Ushijima looked back at Tendou with the same blank expression as he always sported. Relying on the years of friendship for the red haired man to understand the meaning of it. “I didn’t want for the castle to take him away.” 

Tendou waited for the other man to continue, but for the first time since he knew the Alpha, he felt desperate to know what were the words to follow. “Why?” He couldn’t help his words. “It’s just another Omega for the kingdom that your father made you chase.” The minuscule flicker of movement of Ushijima’s face didn’t go unnoticed by the redhead. Tendou skipped a heartbeat. “Isn’t he?” 

Ushijima gave Tendou the faintest smile ever, but coming from Ushijima, it spoke volumes. “No. I chose this one.” The prince decided to turn his head in that moment to look at Hinata, missing completely the face the red eyed knight made as he felt his heart clenching at the words coming out from the Alpha. “I decided to make him my mate.” 

  
  


\-----

  
  


There was nothing left standing in his room. The curtains had been ripped, the bed was a mess, every single little ornament that once decorated the many cupboards and furnitures across his chambers, laid now broken and shattered in different areas of the Alpha’s bedroom.

He slammed his fists against the door once more. The edge of his hands already torn and chipped by the innumerable attempts at breaking it down. Maybe if they weren’t reinforced to protect the future king’s from an assault in the middle of the night, Kageyama may have been able to burst them open.

“Daichi!” He demanded with an irate tone. “Let me out! I need to know if he is fine!” He roared with another slam on the door. 

The knight on the other side of the door remained silent.

Since regaining consciousness several hours after being rescued from the burning forest, Kageyama had proceeded to rage across the room and against the different knights that had tried -and failed- to feed, check on and later just plainly subdue him. He roared and thrashed about for the entirety of the day until exhaustion had probably made him stop, before resuming the destruction as soon as Daichi tried his luck creaking the door open.

“Fine!” Kageyama bellowed. “I’m going to jump from the window if you don’t let me out this instant!” 

Again, nothing remotely similar to a sound came from the other side of the door.

Kageyama growled angrily at the ignored empty threat. He stomped towards the window and opened it with such force that it came to slam against the wall. He peered at the edge and saw defeatedly how up in the castle’s tower his room was. 

_ Maybe he could do it. He could grab the curtains and bedding and could try to - _

“Kageyama!” Daichi warned from the entrance as he saw the future king leaning almost too far into the window. “I need you to calm down!” It was an order.

The prince turned immediately, completely ignoring the captain, making his way towards the other man with decisive and threatening steps as he closed the distance to the door. Daichi’s strong hand around his forearm halted his advance.

“You will stop this stupidity right this instant!” Daichi roared, too tired and too angered to care about the hierarchy or titles. “The Hunting Grounds have been destroyed! There is nothing to look for in there! So you’ll stop being a child and you will let the physician take a look at your wounds, you hear me!” 

Daichi didn’t know if it was the tone he had used, the pheromones that followed the threat, the tightening of his hand on the prince’s forearm, the shake he gave it as he emphasized the command that was definitely going to be noted in the prince’s check up or the out of sorts state of the receiving Alpha, but, apparently, whatever it was, was enough for Kageyama to finally stop, the exhaustion of his body finally making his knees to fall on the stone floor.

“Nothing?” Kageyama repeated in a mumble. “There must be… He can’t...”

Daichi sighed. How could he comfort the boy in front of him without letting in the fact that he knew exactly what was going through the prince’s mind. He started with lowering his anger and landing a warm hand on the other Alpha’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry.” He said with an attempt of a soft smile. He decided to give the other man a bone. “By the time the fire was put down all princes were already out of the grounds.”

Kageyama’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“What about the Omegas? Did… Did everyone make it?” He lifted his eyes to Daichi’s face, begging for answers.

Daichi swallowed. He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure. There were rumors, but there weren’t facts. From what the crowds were talking, apparently Karasuno had been the only kingdom without catching an Omega, but nobody had seen anything. Correction. Nobody who he  _ trusted _ had seen anything. The chaos and the fear for their own princes had kept them from the results of the hunt. The Royals had been smart enough to keep their own prey hidden so as to not draw attention from the masses, resulting in confusion, misinformation and the outburst of rumors. 

“Word says that there were no bodies found in the forest.” Daichi decided to reassure the other with the only veridic information he possessed. “I think it’s safe to assume that all Omegas are okay.”

Kageyama dropped his shoulders as the news of the possibility that Hinata was alive came to wash away his biggest fear. But then, a second wave of fright beat him down again. If there weren't bodies in the remnants of the forest, then, there were only two possible scenarios; either he managed to get out of the forest by himself, or…

“Where are the other princes?” Kageyama stood up with narrowed determined eyes.

“I’m afraid they aren’t here, your highness.” Daichi recoiled at the violent turn that Kageyama did to look back at him.

“What?” The prince let out in an outburst. “The festival is not over yet.” He roared in a way that implied Daichi had been the one responsible of dismissing everyone from the castle.

“I know.” The captain was wondering how he could prepare the prince for the rest of the news without making him relapse to his previous behavior. “But the council feared that the fire may have been a deliberate attack, so the princes were sent back home so as to not risk any political relations.” 

“Since when?!”

“Since yesterday’s afternoon, I’m afraid.” Daichi didn’t have to play pretend. He was devastated at the news as well. Felt partially responsible about it.

Kageyama drowned in misery for just a second before his instincts forbid him to do so. He had promised Hinata he would be the one to hunt him down… And he expected to fulfill such a promise. 

He gritted his teeth. He needed information, a plan, a network of people who could help him track and find where the hell was the Omega. He needed to make sure that the ginger was okay. He refused to give up, not now, not when he had finally found someone who could warm the coldest corner of his heart. Someone who had made him feel happy. So, so happy. Kageyama’s chest tightened at the realization. It wasn’t that he just wanted to beat the other Omega, he just  _ wanted _ Hinata in his life. As an Omega, as his friend, as his partner, as his mate. 

_ Shit. I need his help. _

He cursed internally as the insufferable face of the last person he wanted to see right now came to mind. But there was no denying it. There was no better man for the job, no one else with the network, the charm, the brain and the support he so much lacked than his older brother. The only problem was the whole ignoring him like the plague debacle.

“He can’t ignore me if I burst his door open.” He mumbled as he walked past a confused Daichi who tried to keep up with the imposing strides that the prince marched on.

“Your highness! Wait! Where are you going?” The knight asked.

“To ask Oikawa for help.” He replied with no space for the captain to say anything about it.

Kageyama reached the hall that housed his brother’s quarters, noticing how Iwaizumi and Matsukawa were perched outside the door, apparently too immersed in their own conversation to even notice the crown prince’s approach. As he got closer he picked up some very interesting words.

“-forest burning was apparently his fault.” Matsukawa informed a very serious Iwaizumi.

“And he is sure it was Hinata?” Iwaizumi breathed out as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Matsukawa nodded with a sorrowful face.

Kageyama froze at the mention of the Omega’s name.

“Did Hanamakki see anything else that could be of help?” Iwaizumi kept on asking.

“He lost their track briefly after Hinata managed to get away. The fire broke soon after.” Matsukawa’s reply was a disappointed huff. “He had to make it out without catching attention and believe me, a burning forest cuts your op-”

“What was that?” Kageyama interrupted the duo while approaching, demanding answers. “Why do you know Hinata’s name?!”

“Yo-your Highness!” Matsukawa stuttered, clearly startled by the frightening sight in front of him. “What are you-”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Kageyama narrowed his eyes as he made his way to stand face to face to Oikawa’s lackeys. “What do you know about him?”

“Kageyama.” Iwaizumi called for his attention. “Calm down first.”

“I am calmed down!” He wasn’t. “What game are you playing?! Does my brother know?” He turned to Oikawa’s door and tried slamming his fist against it, but Iwaizumi caught his arm to stop him.

“Tobio. Oikawa needs to rest now, I’ll ask you to calm down and then come back-”

“Oikawa!” Kageyama roared. “What’s this game you think you are playing?! First you completely ignored me and left me by myself when I needed you the most, and now-” He paused as he tried to compose himself. 

His eyes weren’t the driest and his throat threatened to choke him on just air. How could Oikawa play with him like that? Was he behind the fire? Was a ploy to separate him from the first possible friend he had ever made? Was this another way to isolate him because the older brother was a prick and the meanest person alive who just enjoyed seeing Kageyama suffer?

“Do you hate me that much?!” He cried out. “Answer me!”

Iwaizumi gave a low growl, advising Kageyama to thread carefully. As the prince was about to slam the door out of frustration, the knight’s hand tightened around it.

“Iwa-chan!” The name cut the movements of both Alphas. “Let him in.” The calm voice of the prince came from the other side of the door.

“But Oikawa! You can’t -”

“Hajime.” The warning tone in his name was enough to silence the knight. 

Iwaizumi stared back at Kageyama, doubt in his eyes. He held his gaze for a full second before sighing in defeat. “If you even think of doing something-”

“Now Iwa-chan.” Oikawa snipped the threat from the lips of the Alpha.

Iwaizumi growled again, almost in a mumble, stepping aside from the door so Kageyama could reach the handle.

Kageyama opened the door and stepped in, fury in his eyes, demanding answers as he glared into the room, looking for the source of his current pain and finding him resting in the spacious bed. He walked towards him, a thousand questions and demands in the back of his throat. He took a deep breath to start his relentless outburst of pent up years of resentment and hurting only to be silenced by the scent flooding his lungs.

He stopped midwalk, eyes widening in surprise and shock, his previous inquiries now replaced by thousand new ones. He stared at him in silence, waiting, thinking, completely unsure of what to do, of what to say.

“You…” Was all that came from his jumbled brain.

Oikawa huffed humorously. 

“That’s right. Me.” He replied with a lopsided smile.

“No, but you are...” Kageyama’s mind still refused to piece the puzzle together.

“Yes Tobio, I’m an Omega.”

Kageyama’s gears started to move, jumbled, shaken and with all the effort in the world to just place some coherent words in his mouth.

“How?”

Oikawa scoffed and smiled. “Sit down Tobio-chan.” He patted his bed’s side with his inviting sweet smile. “There’s a lot we have to catch up on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand I had to add another chapter (or 2 if I can’t keep my hands from typing) to the story. Remember when this whole thing was going to be 6 chapters long? Yeah. Me neither. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Things are starting to get personal.


	13. Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t keep adding chapters to this… I can’t… please… Make me stop.
> 
> Thank you all for your support, kudos, hits and comments!! You are the best! We made it to 10k hits! *cheers and opens champagne bottle* Sorry if it took a little longer, I had my family visiting for a couple of days and I hadn’t seen them since well…. Oh god.. A year and a half since the last time I saw them! 2020….. You’ve done it again.
> 
> Hope you like this chapter! If you have any questions, feel free to ask as I touch some elements here that will be explained further along in the next chapter, but still. I’d like to know if something is particularly confusing.

The luxurious white castle walls were a sight to behold. If Hinata weren’t looking at them right now, he wouldn’t have believed that such a beautiful place existed. The entrance of the palace was adorned by two huge eagle statues, symbols of power and strength; the national animal of the Shiratorizawa kingdom.

Tendou noticed how the Omega had stopped resisting the manhandling of his carriage descent at the sight of the palace. He stepped closer to the Omega and leaned forwards to be next to his ear.

“You like it little guy?” He said in the familiar creepy and not innocent manner of speaking he had perfected throughout the years.

Hinata jolted at the voice, evidently not expecting it. The man kept getting under his skin with every word he said. It wasn’t what he said, but more how and when he said things that kept the Omega on the edge. Scrunching his nose, he refused to reply. The silence treatment had become his signature move ever since he regained his senses after the horrifying panic attack in the carriage. 

During their journey back to Shiratorizawa, a trip that had seemed like an eternity for Hinata, he had had the time to assimilate his situation and start planning and thinking of all the possible ways for him to escape from the Alpha’s clutches. But now that they had finally made it to the palace, everything had started to feel too overwhelming for him.

In a turn of events that Hinata assumed could only be classified as ironic, the fact that he was captured while unconscious -and in the midst of a burning forest kind of crisis-, had saved the Omega from the more traditional way of ending the hunt; the bonding mark. He had discovered so, when at first, he noticed how he still kept his thoughts and will in order, but fearing that it may have been an illusion due to the already existing bond, he casually rubbed his nape area just to ensure that there weren’t any indentation marks. He sighed in relief when he noticed none and then proceeded to remain as silent and uncooperative as he could. His actions complied with his way of thinking; he may have been a prisoner, but he still was free at heart. And the world could burn before he even thought about stopping the fight for such freedom.

“Still not talking, huh?” Tendou straightened his back as he narrowed his eyes at the Omega. “Well Wakatoshi-kun. He’s sure to be quite a match for your stoic self.” He finished with an annoyed shrug. “I just can imagine the  _ hours _ of entertainment you are about to have in the company of each other.” He finished sarcastically.

Hinata just narrowed his eyes back, glaring at the redhead with all the anger he could muster. A threat. As if the ginger was daring him to continue. Tendou just scoffed as he started pushing and dragging the now resisting Omega towards the front of the castle’s doors.

As soon as they crossed the threshold of the white marble walls, a very excited person came rushing to meet them. The man had copper colored hair that was cut funny and parted unevenly in two. Both fringes bounced as he made his way to greet the trio. But he came to a sudden halt as he noticed Tendou dragging a struggling Hinata. His smile dropped and his eyes widened at the sight.

“What-” He mumbled as his whole face fell the moment Hinata made eye contact with him. A sudden enraged expression scrunched his features and he stomped with irate steps towards the Omega. He grabbed and pulled towards him the tied wrists of the smaller boy with enough force as to make him lose his footing. 

“What’s the meaning of this?!” He shouted to the boy. “Who the hell are you?!”

Hinata could feel the anger directed at him with such a strong force that it made him whimper in surprise. He managed to suppress it quickly after, but the noise had already caught the attention of the man beside the newcomer.

Shirabu felt the crushing pressure on his own wrist before even hearing the rumbling threatening growl coming from the ever stoic man. He was paralyzed instantly. He had never felt such force of nature directed at him.  _ Ever _ . Not even when Iwaizumi had punched him square on the face. He swallowed as the intense glare the Alpha was throwing at him almost made him pee himself in the spot.

“He is my future mate.” The Alpha growled with a deep, low and threatening voice. “Shirabu.”

The beta let go of the wrist of the ginger as quickly as his brain made the synapsis connection. His survival instincts begged him to get the hell out of there if he ever wanted to see another day. 

“I’m sorry, yo- your highness.” He said with a croak. “I- I didn’t know.”

Ushijima squeezed the arm of the man one more time before letting him go. He gave him a final scowl with which Shirabu had to fight the real urge to just double over and beg for forgiveness. 

“Tendou.” The Alpha said in his more normal tone of voice as he helped the Omega to stand once again. “Take him to get cleaned and dressed. I’ll present him to my father.” He pushed Hinata gently towards the redhead’s direction before nodding, satisfied. He turned on his heels and without wasting any more words or time, he made his way to get ready as well.

Hinata was still shocked, warily stealing glances to the copper-head. What was his problem? Such a welcome to the palace. No. He shouldn’t be thinking that. Ways out. Yes. Ways out. He should be scheming ways to get -

“His mate!?” Shirabu squawked. Completely derailing Hinata’s train of thought once more.

“That’s right.” Tendou chuckled. “Our little prince has become infatuated with this one.” He gave Shirabu a knowing smile. Now that he was aware that Hinata was not the Omega Ushijima was supposed to bring home, he was enjoying the chaos that was brewing inside the other man’s mind. “What? It’s not who you expected?” Tendou asked innocently, loving the wide eyes and anxious face of the other man. 

Shirabu scoffed at the other Beta. “What do you know, Tendou?”

The red-head chuckled, enjoying the misery of the man far too much. It was a good distraction from his own. “I know nothing.” He said sweetly as he patted Hinata’s head. “The only thing I  _ do _ know, is that I was ordered to take this little one here to get ready to meet the king.” He stretched his grin in a mischievous way. “I’m really looking forward to the hunt’s hearing.” He grabbed Hinata by his shoulders and turned his back to the other man. “I hope that you join us too, Shirabu. I bet the king will be  _ really _ happy with this fella.” He phrased it with such sarcasm that even Hinata flinched at the words. Tendou gave a final wave before he started to push Hinata through the halls, leaving the other Beta to his own demons.

Shirabu waited for the duo to disappear from his sight before giving in to his anger. 

“Fuck!” He swore loudly. “All these months of planning for nothing?” He groaned as he started to hyperventilate as the news that the prince hadn’t brought Oikawa as his game, but rather an unknown nobody, was starting to sink in. “The king is not going to like this. He’ll blame me for sure.” He started to spiral out of control. “Fuck.” He swore again trying to calm down. “Not only I won't be getting anything from his majesty because of this… But I can kiss goodbye to any position in Karasuno if Oikawa made it out ok.” 

He wasn’t liking his options. He had promised Shiratorizawa’s king a suitable mate for Ushijima; the bond of the century. The one and only Omega prince from Karasuno. Not only that, but with Karasuno currently kingless, the arrangements with the regent council were to give the crown to Shiratorizawa once Oikawa and Ushijima came out as a much blessed “bonded pair”. 

He had been so close. So, so close. All his months of peacocking Oikawa to choose him for Master of Ceremonies, all his secret rendezvous with Karasuno’s regent council and King Washijou, all the spying on the prince until his secret was finally out, all the time it took to finally settle on an agreement from both  _ very _ greedy parties… But now? With all the failed scheming done behind the princes’ back? With how Ushijima had come back with an orange thorn in his foot and claimed his intentions of making  _ him _ his mate? Everything was ruined.  _ He _ was ruined. 

The king and council had been smart. He had been too naive. Both factions had decided to use him as a disposable pawn if things went wrong, and how awry they had turned. King Washijou could still feign ignorance about his plot to subdue Karasuno’s reign under his power and the council could still put up walls for both princes to ascend the throne. They still had time to make it happen, the only one out of time was himself. 

“Fuck!” He cursed one last time, more calmed down than before. Shirabu considered himself a resourceful man, and now was exactly the moment to shine through adversity. He gritted his teeth as a new plan started to form in his head. He wasn’t liking it, but as how things were, he certainly didn’t have much room to haggle with options. He swallowed hard, as if by doing it he would also swallow his pride. “First things first.” He mumbled as he made his way to the crow’s pens.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Hinata was conflicted. On one hand, he was enjoying the warm soapy water a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. His muscles were popping and relaxing as the hot water just cradled him in the tub. On the other hand though, he was currently being washed and handled by a servant who just had seen the most he had shown to any other human being ever. Including both his mother and his sister. Maybe his mother had seen him naked when he was a baby, but this was different. He was an adult now. Or he thought of himself as one at least. So being touched and washed by the expert hands of the maid was making him not able to fully enjoy the warmth of the water nor the first bath he had taken in an embarrassing long time. The fact that the woman would sometimes huff and groan at the sight of how dirty some areas of his body were, were only making the whole experience even worse.

Tendou was looking from the bathroom door sill, avid eyes keeping Hinata in place. The restraints from his wrists and feet had been removed, so the redhead had made the Omega clear what would happen if he tried anything funny while he kept watch. Hinata didn’t reply. Still set on not giving anything to his captors, but the silence was about to drive him insane and if he had been left alone with the lady servant, he may have broken his bow just to alleviate the awkwardness of the room. So, he just endured the bath, closing his eyes as the woman washed delicately his hair, entranced by the color of it and how brighter it had become just after the first scrub.

“You have such beautiful and rare hair color.” She said sweetly. “Master Wakatoshi has really good taste.”

Hinata scoffed at that. He just grabbed his knees tighter, waiting for the lady to finish.

“Don’t be like that little one.” She chuckled at the Omega’s reaction. “The prince is a real Alpha.” She said proudly. “Not like those low Alpha scums that would bed anyone just to get over their ruts. He is a gentleman!” She paused to put a hand over her chest. “I would know! I practically raised the young prince.” 

Hinata was done. The embarrassment of the statement forced him to submerge his face under water and tune out the voice of the woman, making Tendou’s cackle the only thing resonating under the water’s surface. Hinata needed to get out.  _ Now _ .

He was taken out of the tub, dried and escorted to the room at the side. A new maid awaited him to fit him his clothes. Hinata tried to back away as the woman got closer with an outfit he wouldn’t be caught wearing in his life. Tendou’s fast reflexes frustrated his runaway attempt and held him in place, as the maid dressed him up in some high noble ruffled shirt with matching white loose pants. The maroon long vest with golden embroidery covered his front and back, accentuating the national colors of the kingdom. He couldn’t help the mixed feelings at his reflection on the mirror when the maid finished tying the golden sash around his waist. 

He hated it. 

He hated how regal and out of place he looked. Just a couple of weeks ago, before the hunt even began, he had been peddling in the streets for a piece of bread and foraging in the forest for their next meal. He was just a survivor. A poor Omega unlucky to be born in a country that didn’t give a rat’s ass about them. But what he hated the most, was the knowing feeling that if he just accepted his fate, came to peace with his reality, he wouldn’t be hungry, cold or in need of anything ever again. He would be forever clothed with the delicate soft fabrics adorning his body. He would have warm food and bedding every night. He would be safe and taken care for the rest of his life. 

His Omega was basically screaming at him. “Why fight it? Why would you choose a life of misery when the Alpha that has chosen us can provide for us and keep us safe?”

Hinata shut his eyes forcefully in an attempt to subdue the roaring imagery that was taking place in his head. No. There was no such thing as safety in this life. There was no happiness in a life without freedom. He would be surrounded by luxury and feasts, but he would be trapped, at the mercy of a bond, chained to a man he didn’t care nor loved. A man whose words would be law, making Hinata a slave of its own instincts. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want that. He didn’t-

A hand around his wrist made him snap his eyes open. Grabbing the maroon cuffs of his outfit was the hand of Tendou, who was now looking down with a grin in his face.

“You almost went on a full blown panic attack there, didn’t you?” He said in his obnoxious knowing tone of voice. “I’m starting to think that you are not going to be a good match for the prince if you keep on hyperventilating every time you are left alone with your thoughts.” 

Hinata swallowed hard, regaining control of his breathing and cool. He could do this. He had to do this. He would do this. He took a deep breath before throwing Tendou a snarky glare and just broke free of his hold. 

“Tch.” Tendou clicked his tongue. “Last time I’ll be nice with you if you keep on being such a brat.” He grunted irritated.

A maid came to the redhead’s side. A platter with leather and gold restraints on it. Tendou sighed while looking at Hinata. “If you were behaving at least a little more cooperatively, I wouldn’t have to do this.” He picked the restraints and started to shackle the Omega’s wrists together. “There. Let’s get moving. We don’t want to leave the king waiting.”

Tendou started to guide Hinata but the Omega dug his heels on the ground, resisting and fighting the attempts to make him move forwards. 

“You know, I’m not the one who is going to get beaten because of your stupidity.” Hinata flinched in reaction to the tight hold he gave him in retaliation and Tendou managed to move the Omega forward. He grabbed the forearm of the smaller man and proceeded to drag him hard enough that Hinata knew he would have bruises under the tight fingers that held him. 

They made their way to the closed doors of the throne room, the king still held up in his previous meeting. As Hinata kept on shuffling and twisting his arm in a feeble attempt to break free, a more tighter and oppressive hold came to rest on his shoulder. With a reflective gasp, he turned to look at the owner of the hand, stilling himself completely when the olive eyes made eye contact with his widened brown ones.

“You look nice.” The Alpha said. “The color suits you.” 

It was a compliment. Hinata’s brain could not process it. So instead, he shut down and looked at the ground for the remainder of the time it took for the doors to be opened for them to go in. He breathed again when the hand on his shoulder guided him to move forwards, almost making him trample on his own feet. He barely took a glance at the intimidating room, the maroon and golden flags, the eagle imagery everywhere and the most frightening sight of them all. An old man sitting on the lonely throne at the end of the room, whose eyes Hinata could  _ feel  _ boring holes in his very soul. If the Alpha guiding him into the room was scary, the man on the throne was terrifying. 

“So you are back.” The king spoke when Ushijima stopped a few feets from him. “I heard that there was some trouble during the hunt. I’m glad to see you are fine.” The flat tone didn’t leave too much room for said emotions, so Hinata just assumed that he had meant it. 

“Thank you.” The stoic man replied. “I’ve come with the Omega, your majesty.” 

The king arched an eyebrow as he cocked his head a little to the side in confusion. He stole a glance to his side and when Hinata followed the stare, he noticed a very nervous and very anxious copper headed man. The same one that had almost thrown him to the floor. The idea of the rude man being in trouble brought a small feeling of satisfaction.

“Is this the Omega you were supposed to chase, Wakatoshi?” The king asked, commanding the room’s full attention.

Ushijima straightened his back a little. Was he nervous? Why would a man like Wakatoshi be nervous around an old, wrinkly man? Hinata couldn’t figure it out.

“He was drenched in the target’s scent, your majesty.” The king arched an eyebrow at the words. “I was about to resume the hunt, when this Omega showed me remarkable skills in athleticism, wit, stamina and resourcefulness.” A tiny proud smile came to be formed in the Alpha’s lips. “So I deemed him worthy of being a member of this country. I’ve yet to witness strength and bravery like the ones this Omega has displayed.” The hand on Hinata’s shoulder tightened a little. A telling tale of his nervousness. “Your majesty.” He voiced loudly and clearly. “I’ve decided to make him my mate.” 

The room gasped loudly before going cold and still. The tension could be felt in every corner of the hall. The furrowed angered brows on the king’s face were definitely not a good sign of what Ushijima’s announcement had stirred in the throne room.

“What’s your name, Omega?” The king’s voice was hard and sharp. 

Hinata scrunched his face, forcing himself to remain silent. If he hadn’t spoken before, there was no way he was going to reply to the man currently showering him with hating scowls.

“Preposterous!” A man on the king’s side came to shout. “There is no way that his majesty is going to allow such a lowborn-”

“Omega!” The king cut the other noble’s rant. “I asked for your name.” This time, the voice was a command and it took all the ginger’s strength to just force his mouth shut.

The room remained quiet. A few men shivering from the pressure the king was commanding, but the Omega kept on glaring back at him. His piercing eyes throwing as many daggers as the king’s own glower.

The king shifted in his throne, tired of the display of the ginger. He waved his hand in dismissal and huffed irritated. “Either he is as dumb as bricks or stubborn as a mule. Either way, why would you want to mate with  _ him _ , Wakatoshi?” The king gave Hinata the most belittling look he could come up with before adding. “You can gain absolutely nothing from him. What good does he bring to the kingdom if you were to make him your mate?”

The Alpha looked at the ginger for a couple of seconds. The same small smile that had made Tendou baffled at the carriage, was now making the king curious. 

“I thought like you at first.” He turned to look at the king before continuing. “But he proved me wrong.”

The king was in a complete furious and astonished state. What was happening? Why was Ushijima straying off from the path he had laid before him? He was supposed to bring the prince of Karasuno with him, not a small, little, scrawny nobody. Even if he, as the king, were to oppose to the union between the ginger and the prince, what could he do with the Omega? He gave a look at the boy. He wasn’t hard to look at. And the way Ushijima was looking at him? He had never seen the man interested in  _ anything _ but his swordplay. Maybe with more beef in his limbs he could make a good wife and child bearer. He could always give him to the Goshiki household, they always favored the gifts the throne gave them, wasn’t their heir around Ushijima’s age? 

“Your majesty?” The awaiting tone of the prince broke the king’s train of thoughts.

The king scoffed and grumbled. “Fine.” He announced displeased, as he started to look for the only man who could have the answers as to what the hell had gone so wrong with their plans. 

“Thank you, your grace, I know that with time-”

“Don’t get me wrong, boy.” The king cut whatever Ushijima was about to say. His stare had hardened even more and a warning tone echoed in the halls. “I agreed with you keeping him. Not that I want him as part of this court.” He narrowed his eyes on the Omega. “What you do in your chambers is your own business, but no child of his will have a claim to this throne.” 

Ushijima’s fist balled to his sides. He shook them violently before setting them at his sides.

“I understand.” He bowed his head to the king. 

“Be thankful, Wakatoshi.” The king reclaimed his attention. “I could dispose of him just to punish you for your little rebellion here.” The king shifted his stance. “And you Omega. The next time you show such display of disrespect in front of your king, it will be your last.” Hinata felt the intense pressure crushing him over. “Consider the mercy shown today as your welcome home present, Wakatoshi.”

The Alpha bowed his head, pushing Hinata’s nape down with his hand as he did, forcing the Omega to bow as well. “Thank you, your majesty. I’ll be sure to remember it.” He said while still doubled over.

The king rested his cheek on the back of his palm as he shoved his hand in the air. “Now leave. I have other matters to attend to.”

The people in the room started to shift in place, eager to make their way out of the room.

“Shirabu Kenjirou.” The king called, making every person in the room flinch. “Stay.”

Hinata peeked over his shoulder as the room got shrouded in darkness with a lonely figure in front of the throne. The king’s pheromones getting cut by the closing of the heavy wooden doors behind him. The Omega gulped. He wasn’t feeling happy about the other man’s suffering anymore. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The room had remained silent for quite a while now. Kageyama was still trying to assimilate his brother’s words. There was so much hurt, misunderstandings and unnecessary suffering between them two. He was angry at Oikawa, angry at himself, but mostly, he was angry at the fact that all could have been avoided if they just had been honest with each other. Why the need to hide his gender? Why the need to plot ways to get the kingdom from him if he didn’t even want it in the first place? Why the need to isolate him out of spite for a thing he didn’t even control? 

He was told by his brother that it was a safety measure, a way for the Omega to never fall prey to ambitious Alphas. It was his duty as a prince to protect the crown and the kingdom, even if it meant a life of secrecy and pain. 

Kageyama understood that. It made sense. It was logical and the right decision. What he wasn’t able to fit in his head was the reason for his brother’s lashing out on him. It wasn’t like he was the one who set the rules nor proposed the idea of the other’s secret identity. He couldn’t understand the hatred of Oikawa towards _ him _ .

“Why blame me?” The Alpha finally asked, after what had seemed like an eternity later to Oikawa. 

“I don’t know.” Oikawa shrugged. “I guess it was a coping mechanism. If I was miserable because I was an Omega, I thought that you should be too because you weren’t one.” Oikawa looked at the wondering expression on his brother’s face. “You didn’t make it any easier with all your mean comments about Alphas being superior and Omega's need to grovel at your feet, Tobio.” 

Kageyama flinched but recovered quickly. The guilt he felt quickly replaced by annoyance. “That’s a really shitty reason.” Kageyama scowled back.

“Well, excuse me for hating the fact that biology was the only justification for you to be given all I’ve ever wanted in my life.” Oikawa replied in childish mockery.

Kageyama narrowed his eyes at the other man. “So all these years, all this rage, all this pain was just because you were an Omega? It’s not like it was my fault to begin with!” He was looking at the brunette with betrayed eyes. 

Oikawa sighed. Revealing all his inner demons and arguments for their distance had been surprisingly easy. It was like if his body needed the closure. The pettiness had been subdued and he had basically vomited all the years of misunderstanding, hurting and excuses behind his attitude towards his brother. He was feeling lighter even. The only issue had been the betrayed hurt face of Kageyama when the Alpha understood the motives behind years and years of isolation. 

“It wasn’t just because I was an Omega, Tobio.” Oikawa shrugged one shoulder, not sure how to explain where his feelings were coming from. “What hurt the most was because you were an Alpha and I  _ wasn’t _ .” He sighed. “I saw right in front of me all the doors I wanted to cross opening for you and _ just _ you.”

The silence lingered for a second longer, Kageyama trying hard to understand the meaning behind the words.

“So, you were just… jealous? That’s it?” Kageyama asked, even more hurt and angered.

“Well, yes, but also no.” Oikawa sighed in frustration. How could he explain to somebody who was not part of a mistreated group what it meant to belong to one. “I was angry because no matter how hard I tried, how hard I fought, how hard I worked for my goals, an invisible barrier would be there to stop me from even reaching them. Always.” He grabbed the Alpha’s hand tenderly. A sad smile on his face. “For the world, I would be an Omega first. All my achievements, skills and capabilities later.” He grabbed the hand a little tighter. “And no matter how high the accomplishments were, people would still say phrases like “yeah, impressive, you know, for an Omega.” And I wanted to be more than that!” Oikawa closed his eyes, holding them shut for a second to rein back his emotions before looking back at his brother. “I wanted to be someone notable; a leader worthy of being followed, despite my gender. Not limited or encouraged by it. I wanted to cross the doors in my own way, but the world would not allow me to.” 

Kageyama held the sad stare from Oikawa as he sorted out his thoughts. The furrowed brows on his face showing how hard he was listening.

“But...” Kageyama started with a confused tone of voice. “I’ve always seen you as someone beyond remarkable. I’ve never cared about your gender before.” He looked away, a dash of embarrassment coloring his cheeks. “You are the most amazing person I’ve ever known. When I asked you to teach me how to be a king was not to rub on you my title. It was because I truly believe that there is no one best suited to lead this kingdom than you, Tooru.”

Oikawa chuckled. “And now that you know about me being an Omega?” He teased. “Are you sure you want the kingdom to be led by someone like me?”

Kageyama looked back at his brother. The most serious expression in his face.

“If I learned something from this hunt is that Omega’s aren’t weak nor delicate. They are fierce and savage.” He said with a grin on his face. “So now that I  _ know _ you are an Omega, I’m certain that you are going to do an even better job at it.”

Oikawa stared at the Alpha in disbelief. What had happened to Kageyama in the spawn of a couple of days? He knew that Hinata was a force to be reckoned with, but to have such a huge impact on his hard skull little brother? Oikawa scrunched his nose. Nope. Changed man or not, Kageyama was still not good enough for Shouyo.

The Alpha was looking warily at his brother, clearly a question in his lips now that the hunt had been mentioned. Maybe he was trying to be delicate about bringing a topic like the hunt to Oikawa. His current status was a clear indication that it had taken a toll on the Omega.

Oikawa sighed and smiled. “You can ask me about it, Tobio.”

Kageyama flinched, caught on his intentions.

“I-” He cut himself. He shook his head and started with more determination. “I overheard Iwaizumi about the fire in the Hunting Grounds.” He paused to examine Oikawa’s reaction. He was now remembering the horrible accusations he had made in his mind against his brother about starting the fire out of spite. Now that he was aware that the Omega had been a victim in this scenario, he wanted to know what the other knew. Especially if he knew more about the possible whereabouts of his missing ginger. “What happened? Why did a fire break out?” 

Oikawa chuckled, knowing that his brother was trying to ask something different, but didn’t know how to ask him.

“Is that what you really want to know?” Oikawa asked him with an arched eyebrow.

Kageyama bit his lower lip.

“No.” He breathed out in defeat. “Why and how do you know Hinata.”

Oikawa chuckled. “Remember Tobio. Now we have to be honest with each other. No what ifs and no roundabouts.” He winked and Kageyama nodded embarrassed. The prince tilted his head back and closed his eyes before breathing in deep. “I met Hinata the night after being kidnapped.” Kageyama’s eyes widened. 

“Kidnapped!” Kageyama gasped. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“How do you think I got into the hunt in the first place?” Oikawa scoffed. “Do you actually think I wanted to participate?” He asked in disbelief. 

Kageyama went silent. He hadn’t thought about it. “I thought that maybe you had just… stroll into the forest?” He regretted his words the moment they got out of his mouth.

“Unbelievable Tobio!” Oikawa hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Why do you think Iwa-chan and Sawamura-san were in the forest looking for me? Do you honestly believe that I, what? That I got lost in there and started to run away from the hunters for  _ fun _ ? That I was prancing around trying to get bonded? Do you think that the Omegas who participate in the hunt even want to?”

“Well… I didn’t- I-” He stumbled with his words. “I’m sorry.” He finished.

“It’s for things like that, Tobio, that I’ve grown so resentful.” Oikawa groaned angrily. “You Alphas think that Omegas are dying to mate with you lot.” Oikawa stood up from his bed and started to pace around the room. “You just think we are waiting for a big, strong Alpha to come and sweep us up from the ground and just lay at your feet waiting happily for your next command.” Oikawa was barking every word, making Kageyama to flush and flinch in recoil, trying to shrink himself to get away from his brother’s rant.

He wasn’t thinking that. Well, not anymore that is. He just didn’t know why Oikawa had participated in the first place. Maybe he could have connected the dots, but now it was too late. “I didn’t think-” He tried to mumble out before being interrupted again.

“Shouyo is no different, you know?” The Omega managed to make Kageyama snap to life again with the mention of the ginger’s name. “Do you seriously think that he wants to be bonded? That he wants a life of complete obedience and slavery at an Alpha’s side?” Oikawa asked in defiance.

Kageyama stuttered. He wanted to object. He wanted to stop the other man from shattering his dreams of having the Omega by his side forever. “That- That’s different.” He tried as he choked on his words. The uncontrollable pheromones of the older prince causing his brain to stumble at his own thoughts. “I’m different!” He managed to get out with a louder voice.

“Different how, Tobio?” Oikawa demanded. “I discussed it with him. I  _ know _ he doesn’t want a bond. What makes you think that a bond with you is going to be different?” 

“Because… I-” Kageyama wasn’t able to straighten his thoughts. The pressure in the room, the pheromones and anger pouring from his brother, the fear at the back of his mind that Oikawa may be right about Hinata’s opinion about bonding with him. He knew Hinata wasn’t keen on the idea of bonding, of being a slave to the commands of a mating bond, but he wasn’t going to force anything out from it. He wanted the Omega at his side. He wanted the Omega to be happy. He wanted to protect the boy’s smile, he wanted nothing more than to seep the warmth of that sunny bright smile for the rest of his days to come. He just wanted Hinata. But… Did Hinata want him back? 

Oikawa was relentless with his new attack. “What makes you think that he will change the way he thinks just because you want it to be so?” 

“I don’t know!!” Kageyama shouted, cutting the new argument Oikawa was about to bring to the discussion. “I don’t know, ok?” He repeated in a calmer and sadder tone this time. “I just know that I want to make sure that he is safe. That he isn’t hurt.” His shoulders sagged as the tension in his body was starting to leave his body. “I want to protect him and take care of his needs. I want to make sure that he won’t go hungry, or cold, or sad. I want for him to smile forever and just see the light that he casts so I don’t fear the shadows and the loneliness again...” 

Kageyama clenched his fists as he played with the blankets of his brother’s bed. Oikawa couldn’t help but notice the underlying meaning of those words and felt guilty at his brother’s statement. If it weren’t for their split off, would his brother be a different person? Would have he grown to be a caring Alpha instead of the narrow minded one Oikawa thought his brother was? Oikawa stopped at that thought. Why was he still thinking that Kageyama was like that? Hadn’t he been showing signs of changing? Wasn’t he plain out declaring how much he wanted to protect and care and love the Omega? Hadn’t Hinata told how the Alpha had fought against wild animals just to make sure the ginger would be okay?

Oikawa’s realization was interrupted by the voice of his brother. But this time, Tooru was listening attentively, a small and fond smile as he remembered that the brother in front of him wasn’t the same boy from years before, he was a man Oikawa barely knew, because he had stopped himself from doing so, out of fear and arrogance. At the idiotic belief that he would be rejected by the kind heart of the boy who could only admire his dumb, dumb older brother.

“...I want his friendship and his advice. I want his challenges and his taunts.” Kageyama’s brows showed no signs of a scowl as he started to pour his heart out, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “He’s the first friend I’ve made who has treated me like an equal, Oikawa.” He chuckled softly. “I don’t know if I would be different or if he would want to bond with me.” He looked at Oikawa with determined eyes. “But what I’m sure about, is that I want to be by his side. It doesn’t matter if it's by a bond, a promise or a handshake. I just want him to be at my side.”

“Tobio-” Oikawa started fondly, before a knock on the door interrupted the bonding moment of the princes.

“Lord Tsukishima, your highness” The voice coming from the other side was from Daichi. 

Oikawa glanced at the door and then to his still clearly affected brother. He sighed defeatedly.

“Let him in.” He groaned, more because of the decision he had just made in his mind than because of the man entering the room at the moment.

“Your highness.” Tsukishima bowed his head to Tooru before noticing that Kageyama was also in the prince’s room. A surprised look was shot towards Oikawa, who just casually shrugged it off. “Am I … interrupting?” The blond asked in confusion.

“Not at all.” Oikawa answered. 

The brunette gave Tsukishima a look. A question behind his eyes that the blonde caught on, nodding briefly as an answer. Kageyama noticed this and grew self conscious about being the witness of something that maybe he shouldn’t be prying on. He fidgeted in his place before addressing his older brother.

“I shall leave you two to talk then.” He stood up from the bed and started to move towards the door.

“I think you’d like to stay, Tobio.” Oikawa said with his sweet tone of voice. “I can’t think of anyone more interested in Tsukishima’s news than yourself.”

Kageyama stopped and turned towards his brother. Furrowed eyebrows in confusion and interest. He looked back at Tsukishima with expectant wide and unblinking eyes.

Tsukishima huffed and crossed his arms in annoyance. “Are you sure, your highness?” He was seriously doubting the intentions of the Omegan prince. “Prince Kageyama seems a little bit … restless.” Kageyama scoffed at the blonde’s remark.

“I’m sure Tsukishima.” The prince answered with a chuckle. “I wasn’t sure about letting you in on this, Tobio-chan.” Oikawa made his way towards Kageyama’s side, a fond smile on his face. “But if anyone can bring him back, I’m sure it’s my dumb in love brother.” He rested a hand on Kageyama’s shoulder, making the Alpha perk up at the implications of the Omega’s words.

“Wha-” Kageyama was trying to ask.

“So.” Oikawa started, cutting off Kageyama’s attempt at interrupting. “What have you and your family discovered?” 

Tsukishima sighed and pushed back his glasses. He still didn’t trust Kageyama’s recklessness and immature behaviour. He considered himself a kind of friend to the Alphan prince, but he feared that the nature of said Alpha was too narcissistic and self-serving to leave it to him to bring back the Omega. Especially when the other would probably just claim the poor guy on the spot instead. It was dangerous to send the Alpha to get back the captured Omega, but Kei was not someone who could argue with the man who now knew about his family secrets. If anything, this whole ordeal would prove how much he could trust the now revealed Omegan prince.

“It’s as you suspected, your highness.” Tsukishima replied, crossing his arms again. “He was seen in the courts of Shiratorizawa.” 

Kageyama stilled. His eyes looked for Oikawa’s confirmation. The brunette smiled at him before a tapping noise at the window made him shift his attention. He tilted his head in surprise and wondered at the black bird tapping the crystal.

“Now what are you doing here?” He muttered to himself as he made his way to the window.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Hinata had been tossed into the same room where he had been dressed without any kind of command or explanation. He had felt the tension in the Alpha’s hands as he had been dragged around the castle towards the only room he knew. The way Ushijima had shoved Hinata into it and closed the door behind him, had left the Omega with an unsettling feeling that he hadn’t been able to shake off. Furthermore. The feeling got worse when not even a minute after being left alone, the creepy red haired man made his way inside the room, disturbing the little peace the ginger had had since he had been first captured in the woods so many days ago.

He was about to protest when he remembered he was not supposed to be talking. Not even to complain about the lack of me-time that he so desperately needed if he wanted to formulate a plan to get the hell out of the castle.

“Wakatoshi-kun is not very happy, little shrimp.” The red man sighed after his intrusion. “If I were you I would be more careful from now on.” He said as he tapped his index finger against his lips. “Though, if I were you you wouldn’t be in this predicament in the first place.” He said cheerfully, as if that made any sense to Hinata. “But on the other hand I would have to be really short. Yeesh. That would be no fun at all.” He soured his face and tilted his head to the side as he pictured the idea. 

Hinata clenched his teeth in irritation. “Yeah? Well, if I were you I would have to be an insufferable tall hedgehog.” He growled back as his comeback. 

Tendou blinked in surprise. He didn’t expect to break the Omega’s determination with a  _ height _ comment. He smiled in that sinister way of his that made every hair on Hinata’s body bristle, who was just now realizing his mistake.

“So you  _ can _ talk.” He mocked. “I would remember how to do so the next time you see the king, short stuff. He was not kidding about his threat.” He hugged his body and shivered. “You may not be beheaded, but the other punishments for Omegas are even worse.”

“There won’t be a next time.” Hinata scoffed. He had already spoken, what was the point to keep the silent treatment if he could blow off some steam right now. Maybe that would help to think things through more carefully.

“Oh?” Tendou got a little bit closer to the Omega, testing the waters on how much the ginger was willing to be toyed with. “Is that so?”

“That’s right.” Hinata narrowed his eyes towards the man and gave a stern step forwards.

Tendou stopped and leaned back a bit, crossing his arms. “And how do you plan to leave if you are trapped in this room, little Omega?” 

Hinata gave a quick glance over the room, setting his gaze a little longer in the windows. Tendou picked up on the gesture.

“Jumping from a second floor window doesn’t seem a very safe nor wise idea to me.” He scoffed and made his way to the closed windows. “Even if they are unlocked-” He said as he opened one of them for the Omega to see. “-falling from this height could cause a serious injury. How far could you make it if you had to limp and crawl your way through the castle grounds?”

He left the question hanging in the air as he made his way towards the door. This was an opportunity that didn’t present itself often. Tendou was in front of a man who could help him achieve his goals. He could use this boy and maaaaybe offer to help him out in return. He was desperate. Both him and the Omega were running on borrowed time and it was running out.

“But.” He twirled to see the Omega looking at the window. “I can help you instead.” Hinata turned to see the other man’s smile. 

“Why would you help me?” Hinata asked with distrust. “What would you possibly gain by betraying the prince?”

Tendou chuckled. “You should be more worried about your situation than my objectives, little man.” He said pointing a finger towards Hinata. “Or are you forgetting the prince wants to mate with you?” He tilted his body back to look down on Hinata. Narrowed eyes and a smirk on his face as he reminded the Omega about his fate.

Hinata reeled back in fear.

Tendou chuckled. “If you don’t want it to happen, just help me, and I’ll give you the time you need to make a plan to get out of here.” He offered. 

“Time?” Hinata asked, genuinely confused. “How would you give me time?”

Tendou sighed. For an Omega, he was surely dense about his own dynamics. “For a mate bond to happen you need to be in heat, right?” Hinata nodded, trying to follow his thoughts. “If you keep delaying it, you’ll get all the time you need.” He winked. “As simple as that.”

Hinata’s eyes widened at the realization. He scrunched his eyebrows quickly after. 

“I don’t trust you.” He said with a scornful voice. “What’s in for you? What do you need help for?”

“Ah-ah.” Tendou tutted while wiggling his index finger in a negative notion. “First agree to the deal.” He walked closer to the ginger stretching his hand for the other to shake it. “Then we can discuss your involvement in it.”

Hinata narrowed his eyes at the man before dismissing him and turning to the wall, giving the other man his back. “I would be stupid to just agree on something like that without knowing what I’m in for. Forget it!” He huffed annoyed. 

Tendou grumbled before sighing. He gave Hinata a scornful look before his last attempt at reverse psychology. “Well, I guess being nice and caring can only take you so far.” He turned his back and made his way towards the door slowly. “I really hope you enjoy your stay in the palace, shrimpy. I’m sure Wakatoshi-kun will be happy to have you every night at his disposal.” He left the idea lingering on the silence of the room. He needed to drill on the Omega’s head that he was the only thing standing between the prince and his prey. He sighed dramatically. “Here I was trying to give you a helping hand from the selfless bottom of my heart, and you go and just discarded it away. But who cares! I guess being trapped and doomed is better than accepting the help of a stranger.” He finished with a playful tone.

He stood still for a couple of seconds, a smirk on his lips, waiting for the Omega to change his mind. 

“Three. Two. One.” He counted softly to himself as he expected the plea of the Omega to come to his ears. The silence that came instead was making him mad. 

Was that little shrimp so confident about his own abilities to just ignore Tendou’s help like that? He was being so caring and generous right now, anyone in the Omega’s shoes would be crying out of happiness and gratefulness at the chance to be extended such a saving grace as what Tendou was offering him. He turned around furiously.

“Listen here you little-”

Tendou’s face fell when he noticed there was no one else in the room with him.

“-shit…” He finished the word in a mumble as the panic came over him. Ushijima was going to kill him.

He sprinted to the window just to see the Omega lifting himself from the ground. He had apparently used the bushes from directly below the window to soften his fall. The Omega appeared unscathed, a little bruised and scratched here and there, but no broken limbs or limpings from him. Tendou gave a sigh in relief before acknowledging the whole situation. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” He shouted through the window.

Hinata looked up at the window, directly at Tendou. 

_ Don’t. Don’t you dare. Don’t you fucking dare, you little shit.  _ Tendou narrowed his eyes as he just challenged the other man in his head.

But Hinata did. He gave Tendou the biggest, most satisfying and shameless grin he had ever made before sprinting away.

“Shit!” Tendou cursed as he shoved himself away from the window. “Your highness! Wakatoshi-kun! Guards!!” He cried out as he bursted the doors open and ran through the halls, alerting all the men stationed in the area. “The Prince’s Omega has escaped! Alert the gates! He can’t get out of the castle grounds!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I have this feeling that the next chapter is going to be difficult to write, so bare with me if I take a little more time than usual. If you want something else to read, I just posted a short AtsuHina one shot songfic if you are interested. I’m planning on making that a series (they will and won't follow the same universe) with other songs, so if you have any ideas, feel free to give them out! 
> 
> Till the next one!


	14. Matters of the Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! A fast update? Whaaat? I really thought that writing this would take me forever... but in one sitting, half the chapter was up already. Now I'm nervous thinking that I rushed it.... I'm just hoping you guys enjoy it.
> 
> Thank you as always for your continuous support and interest in this fic! I can’t believe we are past the 100k words! I’m so proud of myself! I’ve never even imagined that this story would be this long! I’ve learned so much from all of you and this little journey! 
> 
> We are so close to the end now, that I wanted to really stress how grateful I am for all your comments, kudos, subscriptions and encouraging words! You are the best! Truly.

The slashed and destroyed training dummies lay scattered all around him. He was panting heavily out of exhaustion, but his anger had not subsided even a little bit. He gritted his teeth and tossed his sword to the ground in frustration.

What was happening to him? Since when had he started to doubt and resent a decision, an order, a  _ command _ made by his king? 

It wasn’t so much the order itself. He noticed that the anger was coming from the idea of being punished for _ daring _ to choose something different. Because he had decided for  _ himself _ . He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.

“It’s Tendou’s fault.” He mumbled as he picked the sword from the ground. “I shouldn’t have listened to him. I should have just obeyed. Everything would be okay if I had just ignored him.” 

He felt a stinging pain as the thought crossed his mind. No. That was not true. He had enjoyed the hunt. The first time ever he had  _ enjoyed _ something out of his own free will. The first time he had followed his gut, his heart, his instincts, and it had felt so good. 

Why? Why couldn’t the king see it too? 

He put himself in an attacking stance, facing the only training puppet still standing. He attacked its side as he unleashed his remaining frustration against it. 

He had been obedient all his life. He had been taking care of the kingdom and its people’s needs since his first day in the palace. Why was it that when he decided to put his own desires up front, he was being punished by it? Wasn’t he a part of the kingdom’s people too? Wasn’t he allowed to be taken care of as well? He had given back all he had been gifted already! How much was the king going to hold over his head? He deserved to have his own wishes! He deserved to make his own path! He deserved to-!

The dummy came undone at the next smashing of the wooden sword. Ushijima let out his heavy panting breath as a droplet of sweat fell from his chin. 

Was he being selfish? Was he being ungrateful to the man who took him in and raised him as his son? He stared at the broken down training supplies in annoyance. It’s not like he had asked for it in the first place. He didn’t even have a say in it. Why was he in debt to a man who abandoned his own son and then yanked Wakatoshi back out of spite to his own blood? 

It’s not like nobody talked about it. Nobody was dumb enough to mention in in front of their king, but it  _ was _ an open secret, after all. It’s not like the king had tried to hide it either. The fear of the repercussions of doubting the legitimacy of Wakatoshi’s claim to the throne, or mentioning the dubious lineage of the prince’s mother was enough to shut down any attempt at gossip. So when Ushijima discovered the reason for his invitation to the palace, he understood the face his parents had made at the news. He had known. He had always known what kind of man was the king, but after years and years of training and teachings of the Alphan ways, he could only admire the strength and fierceness with which the king commanded his kingdom. Or at least, he did.

Everything came to a stagnant point after today’s hearing. All his admiration, all his conviction and devotion for the man, were smashed at the evidence of the narrow minded thinking of his king. Maybe he could just give back the Omega. Everything would go back to normal. He would be a perfect pawn, a model soldier, the grandchild the king could be proud of… Somehow that made him even more annoyed. It was like something had broken inside him and even with all the fixing and patching of the world, it would never be the same.

He straightened his back and went to put the dummies back in place. Training had not helped at all. He was still confused, all jittery after leaving the Omega back in his room. A shouting at the distance made him perk up. He thought he recognized Tendou’s high pitch tone. What was he doing out here? Didn’t he order him to take care of the Omega’s needs? Ushijima noticed he would have to ask for the little ginger’s name. He couldn’t keep on calling him “Omega” forever.

“Your highness!” Tendou’s cries snapped him back from his thoughts. “The Omega! He escaped, Wakatoshi!” 

“What?” He didn’t notice how, but he was already almost by Tendou’s side. A tight feeling in his gut keeping him from noticing how fast his heartbeat was racing. 

“He jumped from the window!” Tendou followed. “The gates are closed, but he could be anywhere!”

Wasn’t it better that way? The Omega wasn’t wanted by the king. He had failed him by bringing the undesired Omega back home. Wasn’t it better if he just… disappeared? Wasn’t this a signal from the universe for him to accept what was designed and laid in front of him? The growl coming from his insides made Tendou step back in alarm.

“Wakatoshi-kun?” He asked in surprise.

“Where did he run off to?” He growled.

“The northern gardens.” Tendou replied, taken aback. Wakatoshi shoved the wooden sword into Tendou’s hands. “I don’t think he has reached the northern walls, but if he does-”

“He won’t.” Ushijima cut. A feral snarl in his face that made Tendou snap his mouth shut at the sight. The prince tilted his head back and took a heavy inhale of the air around him. He snapped his eyes open with the tiniest tug on the corner of his lips. “I’ve got him.”

The faraway scent from the Omega lit up his body. Even the exhaustion from his training before, melted at the idea of a new chase. He could understand now what the insufferable Miya brothers kept on annoying him with. The first time it happened, he had thought it was just the contrast to the boredom from just waiting for something to happen, but now? He knew better. 

He sprinted towards the source of the scent, his ears capturing every noise, every twig, every leaf movement that could signal the whereabouts of the smaller boy. He smiled when the distinct noise of rhythmic stomping came to him.

The acidic variation on the trailing scent, let Ushijima know the change in the other man’s emotions. He was now aware that the prince was following him. 

The Omega made it to the wall, by how frantically he looked to the sides, Ushijima realized how two guards were approaching from the sides to cut the boy’s exit routes. As a last attempt at escaping, he took a couple of steps back, before trying to jump over the stone wall. He may have succeeded if it weren’t for his shackled limbs. 

Unable to hold the edge properly, he fell prey to his own weight and landed on his rear with a grunting noise. Noticing now that he was trapped, he stood up from the ground and turned to look at the now approaching Ushijima. The same glare in his eyes from their fated night encounter. 

As he approached the ginger, the Omega’s eyes narrowed in disdain and a sudden thought came to the Alpha’s mind. A thought he hadn’t even bothered with in the past. 

Was the look in the Omega’s eyes  _ hatred _ ? Had he confused it all this time for a challenging glare? Wait. Did the Omega  _ resent _ him? Why? He had  _ lost _ . He had no saying in what was to come. Those were the rules of the game.

All his excitement suddenly turned sour and his strides became stomps as he marched towards the ginger. He was supposed to be grateful to Ushijima for even picking him. He should be delighted at his position. He shouldn’t be throwing daggers at him with the same scornful look he had given the king during the hearing. He  _ had _ deemed the Omega worthy! He was acknowledging the ginger’s prowess! He was supposed to be rejoicing at the idea, not sentencing Ushijima to death, judging by how intense that glaring was.

He stopped at mere steps from the Omega, who still had the audacity to scowl at him with that same intense hatred in his eyes. Even when Ushijima was a good head and something taller than the other man. They didn’t speak. They didn’t move. They just locked eyes in a silent battle for submission. 

Hinata was not going to give in. He was not going to crumble to the immense pressure coming from the equally intense glare of the prince. He refused to back down. Even if it were easier. Even if his whole body shook violently at the need to just let go. To stop fighting. To stop resisting. To just cave in.

His knee fell to the ground, unable to uphold the pressure. One second of weakness was all it took for Hinata to appear frail and submissive. Ushijima stepped forwards and snatched the ginger by his cuffed wrists, tugging and pulling all the way back to the castle. Hinata could only look at the ground, ashamed and defeated. Unable to muster the needed strength to even fight back from the humiliation.

Tendou noticed the return of the prince with the Omega. “Ushi-kun!” He chirped happily as he made his way to the pair. “You found the little shrimp!” He noticed the displeased look on the prince’s face and after not even an attempt to comment by the prince, he decided to just follow them in silence. 

Ushijima bursted the doors open of the ginger’s room and tossed him inside. Tendou was almost slammed in his way in by the violent slamming of the door. He had never seen the prince lose his temper in such ways before. He stole a glance at the Omega, awed by the fact that he was still set on scowling at the Alpha. 

“You should be grateful!” Ushijima roared. “I risked my king’s anger because of you. I defied the command of the highest Alpha of the kingdom for you and this is how you repay me?” He barked at the Omega.

Hinata just kept on glowering at the other. 

Ushijima treaded heavily towards him, anger he had never felt before coursing through his body. 

“The king is already displeased with you! How do you even plan on winning his favor if you behave like this!” He shouted to the silent room.

Hinata didn’t step back. Thousand replies coming to his mind, equally angered at the Alpha roaring and demanding his gratitude and servitude.

“I don’t _ care  _ about his favor!” Hinata roared back. “I don’t  _ care _ about your reasons! I don’t  _ care _ about you or your stupid kingdom!” Hinata snapped, shaking violently. Spit flying at every remark, unable to control his anger anymore. “Why on earth would I  _ care _ about it? You are nothing but a slaver! A narrow-minded asshole that thinks of people as ob-”

The slap echoed in the marbled stone walls. Hinata felt the stung in his cheek and the hit from the ground as painfully as the shame at realizing how the strike had effectively shut him up, making all his body quiver at the idea of even sputtering a word back at the olive haired man. He looked up in shock, realizing the blow had numbed not only his mind, but his body.

“You…” Ushijima started with a reverberating growl. “How ungrateful can you be?” His voice was a low rumble, shaking the depths of Hinata’s soul. “I didn’t have to hunt you down, Omega. I  _ chose _ to do so. I’m offering you a life of luxuries that anyone would be out of his mind to even think about rejecting.” He shook his fists at his sides, unable to control his temper. “I’m offering you to become my  _ mate _ ! What else could you possibly want?”

Hinata was pushing back all his emotions. The tears at his eyes from the stinging pain on his cheek were threatening to spill freely, but he had already shown weakness to the man in front of him. He couldn’t. He shouldn't. He wasn’t going to show any more. He resisted all his urges to pat his now swelling cheek and scowled even harder at the prince. He stood up on wobbly legs, with all the strength left in his body to just keep his stance. 

“That’s the thing,  _ your highness _ .” He spat the words with as much disdain as he could. “I’ve never wanted this. You just came and decided my future by yourself.” Ushijima narrowed his eyes at him. “All you want is for me to be grateful for capturing me. For taking my freedom, my choices away. You just want someone to sit happily at your feet and be thankful for how lucky they are to be “chosen” by an Alpha like you.” Hinata gritted his teeth. “Well guess what!” He snarled. “That’s not a mate! What you want is just a whore that meets your standards!” 

Ushijima flinched at the words. Never in his life had he been spoken like that. He stomped forwards, a new wave of angry fire coursing through his body. He raised his arm at the insolence. He would show the Omega some manners. 

Hinata snapped shut his eyes as his arms shielded his body. A small whimper coming from his bloodied lips on reflex. Ushijima halted. Something about this didn’t sit right. The words of the Omega echoing in his head. The fear pouring from the other man’s posture, the acrid distressed scent only becoming stronger.

This shouldn’t have to be so difficult. The Omega shouldn’t be showing so much resistance. He was a prince. An Alpha. He wanted the Omega to comply with his will. The tempting idea of just forcing a bond on the other crossed his mind. A bite. A simple but effective measure to break the fiery will of the other man. Wasn’t he supposed to actually bite him in the first place? Keep him in a sedated state until his heat finally came in? It would be so much easier that way. Less struggles. Less fighting. Less resistance.

_ “That’s not a mate! What you want is just a whore that meets your standards!” _ The words of the ginger resonated at the back of his mind while his fists trembled at the need to control the feelings that threatened to drown him.

“Tendou.” Ushijima grumbled.

The aforementioned man jolted in place. “Ye-yeah?” He asked, still affected by the previous exchange.

“Bring me the collar.” 

  
  


\-----

  
  


The horse was huffing and panting at the speed the Alpha was riding him. He knew he shouldn’t over exhaust the poor animal, but the faster he galloped, the faster he would make it to the castle. The trip was supposed to take him two days by carriage. Kageyama was planning to make it in one. Less if he could.

After Oikawa’s revelation of the Omega’s whereabouts, Kageyama had basically bounced off his brother’s room. If it weren’t for the prince halting him so they could discuss a plan of action, Kageyama would have already been almost an hour further into his journey. He couldn’t complain though. The amount of information, strategizing and the concoction of an actual plan, were worth the delay if he ever wanted to take Hinata back to Karasuno.

“You can’t just barge in and demand to have him back, Tobio!” Oikawa had snapped some sense back to him. “You need a plan! An excuse to even  _ be _ at their palace!”

“Why can’t I just barge in, take him and ride back here?” Kageyama puffed. “It would be much, much easier!”

“If you want to start a war, that is!” Oikawa barked. His brother had sighed in exasperation. A hand resting on his temple with a face that showed his internal struggle on deciding whether to hit the other or just strangle him. “Tobio, think for a minute, will you?” The prince had pleaded. “Whether you accept it or not, Ushijima caught Hinata during the festival. In accordance with our laws and treaties, he is Shouyo’s rightful owner. If you were to appear at the palace walls, demanding the Omega back, they have every right to deny it. Heck! They could even see your actions as an offense, as not upholding our end of the deal!” He cried out. “They could and would lash out against our kingdom! Do you want that?” He crossed his arms frustrated. The hypothetical question lingering as a way of scolding.

Tobio looked to the side, avoiding his glance. A deep scowl painted on his face. “I guess not.” He replied without much bite.

Oikawa sighed. “Then we need a plan.” He stated.

It hadn’t been too much later that Sugawara and Iwaizumi had been brought to the room to help come up with something akin to a plan. In the meantime, Kageyama glanced at his brother while he opened the window and let in the crow that had been tapping on the glass. He saw how carefully Oikawa detached the parchment of paper the bird was carrying and started to read it. The prince’s eyebrows furrowed when he noticed the now wide eyes and intense concentration the Omega was getting into, only for the newcomers to start talking, managing to snap him back to their conversation.

“So he is in Shiratorizawa then?” Iwaizumi asked, as the group started to settle in the room. He opted for sitting on Oikawa’s bed, aiming the question to the prince himself.

“Not only that.” Oikawa sighed re-reading the parchment. “But he was presented on court, by Ushijima himself.” Oikawa held the paper for everyone to see. He paused for a second, looking with special attention and a wilted expression at his brother. “He has claimed that he plans to mate him.” 

Kageyama jolted up and snatched the paper from his brother’s hand. He skimmed over the rest of the letter, focusing on the few parts that talked about the reason for Shirabu's treason to his patrons. Oikawa had to stop him again from running towards the door with now re-ignited recklessness. 

“Let me go!” He snarled. “I don’t have time!” 

“Tobio!” Oikawa huffed. “You won’t get anything by just rushing in! You can’t just take him! Think of the consequences!” He growled back.

“Actually, he can.” 

The whole room snapped towards the voice of the silver haired man. Kageyama stilled as he stared at Sugawara with a desperate and hopeful look. 

“What do you mean?” Kageyama croaked.

“Well…” Suga fidgeted at the realization he was now the focus of their attention. “In Shiratorizawa, the people live by the law of the fittest. When the country’s motto is to become an irresistible force, they mean it.” Sugawara explained. “This applies to their laws respecting ownership of Omegas as well. For Alphas, any unbonded Omega is free to take. If an Omega in the middle of a courtship is taken by another Alpha, it’s not considered taboo, or illegal. It may be frowned upon, but the behaviour is abide by the law.”

“So I just have to bond with him before Ushijima does?” Kageyama asked hopefully. A little too cheerful at the idea.

The room went quiet at the implications of the Alpha’s words. Kageyama noticed. A strained face showing the mixed feelings about his current conundrum.

“What I’m saying is.” Sugawara continued. “If Hinata hasn’t been bonded  _ yet _ , you can rescue him and avoid major repercussions by bonding him while on Shiratorizawa.” He locked eyes with Kageyama, a silent precautionary warning in his glare. “Act that you shouldn’t  _ dare _ to do if we can avoid it.” Sugawara almost snarled at the prince as he enunciated the words.

Oikawa chuckled at the current expression on his brother’s face. With every passing second he was enjoying more and more Suga’s addition to his close circle of people.

“The real problem is that the prince will certainly won’t have Hinata just wandering around. Especially if he plans to mate with him.” Sugawara's warning came as a bucket of cold water. He could see the deflated look on the crown prince’s face, feeling a little sorry about the rest of the explanation to come. “You don’t see unbonded Omegas outside. It’s too risky for the Alphas interested in them. It’s probable that Hinata is currently locked behind tightly shut doors. I don’t know how we are going to even see where he is. Let alone have access to him.” 

The silence in the room befell them once more. They had to come up with a convincing enough reason for Kageyama, the most unsocial and reclusive prince in the history of the kingdom, that would dignify a visit from him to the other nation. 

A random knock on the door to just check on the Omega the other man had caught? Suspicious. A social visit to solidify relationships between the two nations? Hadn’t the other Alpha been here just a couple of days prior? Also, a social visit didn’t guarantee the meeting of the Omega. Furthermore, a social visit resulting in the disappearance of said Omega would only damage their relationship with the other kingdom. What could be reason enough for both; getting Kageyama into the kingdom  _ and  _ for taking the Omega back to Karasuno?

“I’ve got it!” Iwaizumi jumped, startling the room in the process. “The fire!”

“The fire?” Kageyama asked, confused. “The Hunting Ground’s fire?”

“That’s it!” Oikawa gasped. “Iwa-chan! You are a genius!”

“What? What’s happening?” Kageyama was starting to get impatient.

“The fire that burned down the forest, was suspected to be an attempt against the lives of the Royals participating in it!” Oikawa made his way to his desk, sitting and taking out a parchment of paper, ink and a pen. “We’ll just accuse Hinata of starting it and demand his extradition to Karasuno to pay for his crimes.”Oikawa scribbled quickly and excitedly. “It’s brilliant!”

“Wait!” Kageyama was getting nervous. Wouldn’t that put the Omega in a compromising situation? Wouldn’t that mean that Hinata could be hanged for treason? The Omega certainly wouldn’t start the fire to kill everyone… would him? “We don’t know if he did it!” He cried out nervously, trying to stop the insane plan to bring harm to Hinata. “It could have been an accident!”

Oikawa was standing now, looking for the seal and wax to make the letter official. He stopped at his brother’s words, looking at him in confusion. “Tobio.” He said fondly when he noticed the anxiousness in his brother’s face. “We know that. Don’t worry.” He sealed the letter and walked towards his brother. “This is no official paper from the council. This is my personal seal, it doesn’t hold any power to do anything against Hinata here in Karasuno that I wouldn’t approve of.” He grinned as he held the letter for Kageyama to grab it. The confusion in the Alpha’s face remained.

“I don’t understand.” He said, grabbing the letter. “Then-?” 

“ _ We _ know that Tobio, but  _ they _ don't.” He winked playfully. “It’s still an official letter and it will give you a reason and a demand to see Hinata.” Oikawa’s features strained as he completed the thoughts in his head. “You have to understand though, that this won’t guarantee that Ushijima will let you. He can still refuse.” Oikawa scratched his head in frustration. “Unfortunately Shouyo is still under Ushijima’s ownership. He has the final say. We are entrusting the whole plan on Ushijima doing what we expect him to do as a prince, but…” Oikawa sighed heavily this time. “Ushijima’s Alpha side is a different story.” He gave a look at Shirabu’s letter. “If what Shirabu says is true, then there might be a chance that this plan won’t work. I’ve never heard of a Shiratorizawa’s heir  _ choosing _ a mate.” He gave Kageyama a stern look that quickly changed into one of a mix between pity and pleading. “If that happens.” He grabbed Kageyama’s shoulder tenderly. “Just promise me that you won’t do anything that would put yourself or Hinata in too much danger.” 

Kageyama returned the gesture with his own pat on Oikawa’s hand. “I can’t promise that.” He gave a fierce and determined look to his brother. “I’ll bring him back.” 

Oikawa chuckled, releasing the hold on his brother’s shoulder. “Of course you will.”

Kageyama was making his way towards the door when he turned to see his brother. “Tooru.” He started. His tone of voice made Oikawa still himself in surprise. “You take care as well.” He gave a wary look at the parchment of paper in Oikawa’s hand. Even if he had skimmed over the parts that weren’t related to Hinata, he had understood the idea. “I trust that you’ll do whatever it takes to make it out all right.”He turned to look at Iwaizumi. “I entrust his life to yours.” And with that, he left the room. No escort, no final goodbyes, no second guessings.

Oikawa had stared at the door for a couple of seconds before reacting. A warm feeling about what he had just witnessed. His little brother, all grown up, caring for him even when he had been so cold all these years. A sudden feeling of inadequacy made him stir uncomfortably. Well, he wasn’t going to let him down either. It was time to start planning his own survival.

“What was that for?” Iwaizumi asked the prince with a puzzled look on his face.

“Iwa-chan.” Oikawa sighed. “Call for Tsukishima, quick. Tell him that we’ll need all the help he can get.” 

\-----

  
  


“No.” The answer was resolute.

“Iwa-chan… just hear me out.” Oikawa tried again.

“Absolutely not.” Iwaizumi growled back. “There is no way I would be on board with something like that.” He gave a glare at the bird perched on the prince’s shoulder. “Especially if the information we are using as our only intel came from that  _ snake _ .” 

Oikawa sighed. He threw a pleading look around the room, looking for back up from the different faces grouped up in his bedroom. To his surprise, Tsukishima was the first one to shift his stance, probably looking for ways to appease the other Alpha.

“Sir Iwaizumi.” He started. “I think it’s worth looking into it, at least.” He reasoned. “If what the letter say it's true, then Shiratorizawa wasn’t the only one that knew and plotted for the prince’s kidnapping.” 

“Why?” Iwaizumi arched an eyebrow as he questioned. “Why on earth would Shirabu tell us all about this through a letter?” He asked the room. “When he  _ knows _ that if he steps a foot in this castle, he is a dead man.”

“Knowing his majesty.” Hanamaki was the one replying now. “I’m certain that Shirabu thinks appealing to your mercy is a much favorable gamble than trying to gain Shiratorizawa’s king’s favor.”

“Or-” Matsukawa started to reason . “Seeing that his plan failed, leaving him with nothing left on either front, he may want revenge AND a way out.” He placed a hand under his chin. 

“Disregarding the reasons, this is a serious accusation.” Daichi chimed in. “If the council is really planning to sell the kingdom to Shiratorizawa…” Daichi gave a worried look to Oikawa. “Your highness. I’m afraid that you may be in real danger.”

The room directed their gaze to the prince. A heavy and somber stillness awaited the words from the Omega.

The prince paced the room with a focused expression trying to gather his thoughts. “Now that my gender is the talk of the castle, I don’t think I can hide it anymore.” He gave a heavy sigh before addressing the rest of the room once more. “I think the council will use this opportunity to sell my union to other kingdoms. I believe they agreed with Shiratorizawa at first because only _ they _ knew. But knowing those greedy bastards, they’ll happily accept the best offer now.”

“Well, can the crown prince just say no?” Daichi asked. 

“Unfortunately, Tobio isn’t king yet.” Oikawa sat on his bed and placed his hand on his chin. “And if what the letter says is true, the council will continue to see that it stays that way for as long as they can.”

“Um, excuse me.” A shy voice came from the back of the room. “Couldn’t his highness just, step to the throne? Isn’t he the crown prince after all?” 

“What was your name again?” Oikawa asked the boy.

“Yamaguchi, your highness. Yamaguchi Tadashi.” He said while fidgeting with the hem of his robes.

When Oikawa opened the window to let the crow into his room, he never expected to find attached to its claws the crude revelation of his own kingdom’s regent council, the team of people supposed to take care of the matters of the throne and its subjects, plotting against Karasuno’s heirs.

With the urgency of the matter and the state of mild chaos still messing with the ability of the kingdom to function properly, he gathered the group of people now flooding his room in an attempt to sort things out and plan their next move. 

Oikawa looked at the man Tsukishima had brought in. He came as the representative of Saeko and the Omegan rights and liberation group, which the blond and his family apparently ran. He had been reluctant to accept the unknown man into his chambers at first, especially when he was expecting the woman herself, instead of the timid, freckled Omega; but when Tsukishima himself interceded for him with a tinted flush on his face and a weird possessiveness, everything clicked in the prince’s mind. Well, he couldn’t deny that he was in need of a couple extra reliable hands that could smuggle him out of the palace and out of the kingdom if the occasion ever came to call for it. And if the timid Omega felt compelled to help extra hard due to Oikawa’s involvement in his and the blond’s union; the better.

“Well Yamaguchi, unfortunately, the council is still in charge of the coronation procedures and ascension requisites to the throne.” Oikawa sighed. “When the king died, he just left the power to the council until little Tobio was deemed worthy enough of claiming the crown.” He explained. “The thing is… The council deemed “worthiness” as a successful hunt, and, as you can see, there was no captured mate.” 

“They can argue that the prince can just wait for another year to ascend the throne, which gives us a whole year of not being able to do anything against their decisions.” Tsukishima finished.

“But…” Sugawara made all the heads turn to look at him for the second time that evening. “Why don’t you just… take it?” He asked.

“Suga.” Oikawa huffed. “I just explained-”

“No, no.” Sugawara interrupted abruptly. “What if you just  _ take _ it.” He finished with an excited smile.

The room went silent, looking at Sugawara as if he had gone crazy.

“Wait, wait.” Iwaizumi pleaded. “Like a take over?!” He asked bewildered.

Sugawara nodded enthusiastically. “Wouldn’t that be easier? You could fulfill the promise you made to Hinata as well.” He replied joyfully. “A kingdom overruled by an Omega who rebelled against the tyranny and oppression of his people.” He looked at Oikawa with a grin. “It has a nice ring to it.”

The room went silent again.

“How-?” Iwaizumi started in disbelief.

“The kingdom is already stirred by the burning of the Hunting grounds!” Yamaguchi butted in excitedly. “Especially the Omegas! If they see that the prince, the Omegan prince is fighting for them…” He couldn’t contain his emotions. “They’ll follow you till their graves, your highness!” 

“No.” Iwaizumi was trying to stop the ideas from taking flight. “That’s just-”

“I can round up the knights that are loyal to me. You have my word that we will fight for you with everything we have.” Iwaizumi shot Daichi a hateful look, beggin for the other man to shut up. 

“I think we can convince General Ukai to join us too. He’s always been openly spoken about what he thinks of the current regimen and treatment of the Omegas.” This time Matsukawa was the one making Iwaizumi grumble.

“That’s a huge risk! Imagine he -” Iwaizumi was cut off again.

“Actually, he is an active member of our group.” Tsukishima added.

“His mate helps in the rehabilitation center!” Yamaguchi chirped excitedly. “He escorts a lot of us when he patrols the city streets at night.” 

“Oikawa.” Iwaizumi scoffed, belittling all their information as if it was just something akin to children’s playing pretend. “Please tell me you are not actually thinking about this seriously.” 

Oikawa stared at his knight with furrowed brows. Still in consideration of this sudden crazy alternative. They would have an army. The support of the people and the backup of Tsukishima and Saeko’s group to stop with the illegal Omega trading and help with the establishment of a new fair and equal treatment for their people, disregarding their gender or status. 

If he added the stir caused by the news of his own identity reveal and the burning of the iconic place of oppression and abuse led by the crown itself. The conditions were all too perfect. All too good to waste an opportunity like this. They could strike midst confusion and plotting, before the council could actually plan something as a countermeasure. 

“Oikawa!” Iwaizumi pleaded after the minute the prince was taking to deny the unbelievable stupid idea of a coup.

“Iwa-chan.” The prince grabbed the other man by his shoulders fondly. “Why are you hating the idea?” He asked the knight. “It’s the perfect opportunity! We would be stupid not to act now.”

“Stupid?” Iwaizumi asked dumbfounded. “Stupid is to follow through it!” He cried back. “It’s irrational, risky, complicated.” He broke free from the prince’s hold hastily, as if burned by the man’s hands. “It’s barely a plan at all!” He shouted. “Are you really considering risking everything for a feeble chance at success?”

“It’s not like we have many alternatives.” Oikawa crossed his arms in defiance. 

“We can always smuggle you out of the castle! Take you somewhere else, where you’d be safe! Out of the clutches of the council. Out of reach of the other kingdoms!” The knight barked back. “Why put yourself and everyone else at risk like that?”

Oikawa got visibly angry. 

“What kind of leader would I be if I were to flee at the first sign of danger?!” He spatted. “With what face would I be able to look at my people, at the Omegas that are counting on me. What face would I wear for Hinata, if I just fled without putting up a fight for what I’ve been wishing and looking and struggling for during my whole life?!” 

Iwaizumi stepped back, an emotion Oikawa wasn’t able to figure out displayed on his face. The Omega was huffing after the rant, too worked up at the idea of his best friend backing away from the promise they had made so many years back. 

“It wouldn’t matter if I were to leave the palace, the country nor the kingdom, Iwa.” Oikawa continued. His voice came out filled with emotion. “The situation wouldn’t change. I’d still be an Omega. My people, my kingdom. They would still be under the oppression of those who feel they can step on those weaker than them.” He looked at the knight directly, as if there were nobody else in the room but them two. “I can’t leave them, Hajime.” He grabbed the knight’s hand, pleadingly. “So please, don’t make me.”

The Alpha held the other man’s stare. A heavy knot in his throat at the thought of Oikawa putting his life on the line. He wanted to see the Omega as king. He wanted to fulfill the promise he had made the prince so many years back. He was willing to die for the dreams of the man in front of him… But he couldn’t dare see the most important person in his life even talking about doing the same. “I can’t-” He couldn’t help the breaking of his voice. He swallowed before continuing. “I can’t lose you.” He croaked as he hugged Oikawa tightly, desperately. “Not again.” He hid his teared up face in the crook of Oikawa’s neck. 

The Omega was cut off guard. After the initial shock, his defenses came down and he returned the hug, the warmth of his knight in his arms steeling his resolve. 

“You won’t, Hajime.” He said softly. “Just promise me to stay by my side.” Oikawa managed to detach the knight from his neck, making them lock into each other’s eyes. “And I’ll promise to be by yours.” He smiled sweetly and genuinely. The honest smile. The smile reserved only for his friend. For the love of his life. For his Alpha. “Always.”

Iwaizumi just held him tighter. “Just-” He narrowed his eyes. “Just don’t make anything stupid.” He said. “Shittykawa.”

Oikawa chuckled. “With my trusty knight at my back, how could I?”

“Not to ruin… whatever is going on.” Tsukishima interrupted, making the prince and the knight jolt up, suddenly remembering their audience. “But shouldn’t we start making our move? Or at least be planning it?” He arched his eyebrows.

“Wait a second!” Daichi gasped. “What about the crown prince?” He asked, suddenly remembering the missing member of their group.

“Don’t worry.” Oikawa grinned. “By the time he gets back, we should be done.”

“But are you sure he wouldn’t … oppose this?” Daichi asked. “He’s the one supposed to become king, after all.”

Oikawa scoffed. “Little Tobio has as much desire to rule this kingdom as I have for bonding with Shiratorizawa.” He scoffed. “Besides, this way he’d be safe from any repercussion from the rebellion.” He continued. “I fear what could happen if the Alpha crown prince were caught up in the middle of the scuffle. The Omega’s fighting for us could doubt his intentions and any noble Alpha plotting against us, could use him as a way to drop morale.”

“You already thought about all that?” Sugawara asked, impressed. 

Oikawa sighed fondly. “It’s more like, I keep on finding excuses to keep him out of all of this.” Then, he chuckled. “Maybe it’s the big brother complex finally catching up to me?”

“Better late than never.” Iwaizumi teased.

“Better late than never.” Oikawa repeated with an amusing huff.

  
  


\-----

Tendou was carefully applying the cold ointment on the Omega’s cheek. A soft hiss and small flinch as reaction was all the noise that cut through the silence in the room. The cut lip was scabbing already and the swelling cheek had reduced in size in comparison to the day before. In an effort to not unsettle the ginger, Tendou stood up from the bed slowly and carefully. He rested the little container in the room’s vanity before stealing a glance to the eerily quiet boy hugging his knees in the bed. 

There was something so different from the silence of the Omega now. If before his escape, his silence had been a way to fight, a rebellious stance, a deafening scream of strength and fire; right now, the Omega’s stillness spoke of a broken will, an exhausted figure. Watching the Omega, was seeing the light of the intense wildfire grow dimmer and dimmer until barely the embers were left in the ashen fields. An image that made even Tendou break his resolve.

The knight turned slowly, he was still unsure of what to do, what to say. He was drowning in his own emotions. He wanted to help the smaller boy, to comfort him, to tell him that Wakatoshi was a good man. How special the man really was. How he had been the first person to ever look at Tendou in genuine appreciation and interest. He wanted to defend a man who had just smothered the flames of a fire. A man that had shown him a side he had never seen before. A scary side. A completely oppressive Alpha side.

He shook the idea away and instead pondered about what he could say to the Omega. Maybe he could start by asking his name? They could become acquaintances, make his stay a little less lonely in the castle. Offer him someone who he could rely on. He stopped to notice the thick leather and gold collar around the boy’s neck. One of the most humiliating and will breaking accessories an Omega could be caught wearing. A signal of ownership, of objectification, a declaration of slavery to the world. The physical shackle of the other’s will. His eyes couldn’t help but roam the thick chain coming from the collar’s golden ring, restraining the movements of the ginger and secluding him to the four walls of the room. His new reality until bonded. No. Even then, Ushijima would probably keep him locked in this place, too afraid to fight the king’s orders, but too attached to let the Omega go.

Ushijima had not returned to the Omega’s room since yesterday, after collaring and locking the ginger in. Since then, Tendou saw the futile attempts of the Omega to fight his restraints. At first he had tried to break the chain with force. He attempted to cut it and smash it, but the metal links remained intact and strong as ever. He had switched tactics and attacked the collar itself. He tried clawing it, scratching it with the utensils he stole from the dinner he had been brought and even tried to smash the window for a piece of glass. After he was caught in the midst of this action, the chain had been shortened as a precaution. Now he was barely able to step a couple of feet from his own bed.

Pity.

That was what Tendou was feeling. Pity.

A loud sniff caught the red hair’s attention, snapping him back to reality. He noticed how the Omega was looking at him now. His face all scrunched up, fighting over the need of bawling his eyes out. 

“What would I have to do?” The voice of the ginger came out raspy, torn up by the evident knot in his throat and the fear of choking on it.

“What?” Tendou was caught by surprise. Clearly not expecting the other to speak, even less to ask him something.

“You said-” The Omega coughed, preventing his voice from breaking. “-that you would help me if I helped you in return.”

Tendou tilted his head. Right. That. There was no reason for that now. Not anymore.

“I’m in. I don’t care anymore.” The ginger croaked. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Tendou went to the boy’s side and took a seat. The ginger barely shifted at the wobbliness from the change in weight of the mattress. A forlorn look in the knight’s eyes. A pressure in his heart at the sight of the broken boy. How to explain that there was no turning back now. That his last attempt at escaping had sealed his fate. How to tell him that what he had tried to accomplish by making the Omega talk to Ushijima so the prince would realize his own desires, had gone so horribly wrong?

There was no way Ushijima would let the Omega go now. Not when the seeds of doubt and desire had already started to create chaos in the Alpha’s mind. Not when the man who had brought the Omega back was unrecognizable in Tendou’s eyes. Not when all the plans to make Ushijima understand what he really wanted, had backfired so much so, as to have the reason for Wakatoshi's swirling emotions sitting right in front of him. 

There was no way for the Omega to help. Not anymore.

“I’m afraid that the offer has already expired, little guy.” He sighed, ruffling the ginger’s hair. “You have already done your part. Too well, actually.” He said with a sad chuckle and a defeated expression in his face. 

Hinata didn’t even blink. With a far away stare, he docked his head between his knees and stayed there stifling his sobs. Tendou decided to ignore them, making the Omega think that he was doing a good job at hiding his tears. 

In all honesty, Tendou almost felt like crying too. Here he was, agonizing at the idea that the only man he had ever loved, was bewitched by a boy who didn’t even care for him. That was crying his heart out for being in the position Tendou would have killed to be. All these years of pining and convincing himself that what he was feeling was solely admiration and a deep friendship for the Alpha. All the things he had abandoned and relinquished to be by Ushijima’s side. All his efforts to sway the straight way the Alpha thought for the mere chance that his feelings were to be requited. All for what? For the olive haired man to  _ finally _ wish for something. To yearn for someone. To cherish an Omega. Someone who wasn’t Tendou.

The knight looked at the orange haired boy one more time. The same feeling came to lodge itself in his stomach. Pity. So much pity. Not for the Omega this time, but for himself.

“I know that it doesn’t seem like it.” Tendou started with a longing voice. He sprang one knee up and rested his chin on it, looking at the crying boy with a soft smile. Two suffering souls to keep company to each other. “But the prince is also a prisoner like you.” 

The Omega looked up. Red rimmed eyes and soaked eyelashes accompanied his questioning glance. “He is an Alpha.” He mumbled with a rough voice and a sniffle. “He’ll never be a prisoner like me.”

Tendou huffed humorously. “Your cages may seem different, but your lack of freedom is the same.”

The Omega scrunched his face before turning his head the other way, so he wouldn’t have to look at the other man.

“I know that this is the last thing you want to hear, but.” Tendou scratched the back of his head, the feeling, the  _ need _ to defend the prince. The desire to excuse the prince’s behavior lingering heavy in his heart. “The prince is really not a bad man. He is just… confused, I guess.” He said as he shrugged one shoulder.

The ginger refused to look at him, but his silence made Tendou feel that the boy was, at least, intrigued.

“You are the first decision he has ever made and he was punished by it.” The knight kept on going. “He doesn’t know how to feel about you, about you rejecting him and escaping. He is just… really frustrated?” He left the statement as a question, even himself unsure of the feelings of the prince. 

The ginger had turned to look at him again and Tendou took this as a plea to continue.

“I guess it's my fault to begin with.” The red haired let out a long breath while tilting his head back in regret. “All this time I told myself that I was doing this for him. That I wanted him to be able to choose what  _ he _ wanted for himself, instead of following blindly the steps laid in front of him.” He closed his eyes as he chuckled. “I guess I wanted to convince myself that I wanted his happiness more than mine, but I guess what I really wanted was to be able to achieve both at the same time.”

“What do you mean?” The Omega asked confused. 

Tendou returned to his original sitting position and narrowed his eyes at the Omega, deciding if he should confide his deepest truth to the little man. He softened his stare, acknowledging that if the Omega was miserable, well, they could be miserable together. He looked up and avoided the curious stare of the ginger.

“If I truly wanted  _ his _ happiness, I would just be happy that he chose you.” He gave out a long sigh. “I guess that I thought that if Wakatoshi picked a mate by his own volition, well, then I would be able to let him go.” He turned to look at the boy sitting by his side. “But I guess the matters of the heart are a little bit more complicated than that.” 

Hinata noticed how the smile in the red haired man didn’t make it all the way to his eyes. It was a sad smile, an attempt at convincing himself that he wanted to be happy. That he could be okay with how things were going to unravel. That he wouldn’t suffer at the consequences of his own actions. 

Hinata felt it. The same pity he felt for himself. The same feeling of sadness at being trapped in a story with no happy ending. He remembered Tendou’s words.

“Different cages.” Hinata stared at the man who seemed as miserable as the Omega felt. “Equally prisoners.”

Tendou blinked at the words. Caught completely by surprise before tilting his head back in a humorless laughter. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


Ushijima was pacing in the room. A million thoughts making him unable to focus on the tasks supplied by his king. He was supposed to be writing letters, accommodating rations for the upcoming months and preparing the next meeting regarding their current territorial issues with Itachiyama. Instead, he was thinking about the Omega, whose name he didn’t even know. 

Why was he so frustrated about their current situation? He was a prince. He was an  _ Alpha _ . His words were law and command. He wanted the other boy to understand this. He wanted the Omega to comprehend why the prince was special. How important to the prince was the fact that he had chosen the ginger. 

Why was he being so difficult? 

He felt a stabbing itchiness at his back. Turning, he came to face the oil portrait of a much younger looking king. The irritation bubbling in his stomach made him want to tear the painting to pieces. He was confused. Angry. Frustrated and annoyed. He shook his fists violently at his sides as he was just trying to put the pieces of his mind together.

Why?

Why did he care?

Why did he care that  _ he _ didn’t?

Maybe if he were to visit the Omega the itchiness he felt all over his body would finally stop.

The door to his studio was knocked, causing the Alpha to snap his head towards the wooden frame. A young looking guard opened the door, looking troubled.

“Your highness.” He peeked into the room with furrowed brows. “Karasuno’s crown prince has requested your presence, sir.” 

Ushijima huffed annoyed. “What does the letter say.” He asked, outstretching his hand.

“No sir.” The guard opened the door fully, stepping into the room. “I’m afraid he is already here. He arrived just minutes ago.”

Ushijima arched his eyebrows. What could the prince possibly want from him  _ specifically _ ? All matters of the kingdom were discussed by the king first and then delegated to Ushijima. Maybe it was a social visit? His lips tightened at the idea. Hadn’t they just arrived from Karasuno? He wasn’t really in the mood to entertain guests. He wanted to patch things up with the ginger boy first. 

A tight pull came from his stomach at the thought of the Omega. A voice in his head that urged him to be cautious. That warned him to protect what was his. He coughed to avoid the growl threatening to erupt from his insides. He had to be more careful. All these instinctual responses to the boy were messing with his head more than he had anticipated.

“Did he mention the reason for his visit?” Ushijima asked as he made himself presentable to greet the other nation’s prince.

“He only mentioned the need to discuss an urgent matter with you, sir.” The guard replied. “Something related to the Omega you brought from the hunt, your highness”

Ushijima flinched as he gritted his teeth. Yeah. He was hating how on point his instincts were reacting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I would take forever to update? Yeah… This fic keeps on sending me curveballs like that. And seeing that we are in the final chapters now, I’m set on finishing this before my birthday! So expect the last chapter before the 23rd! I hope....
> 
> Only one chapter left now. I hope you are all ready for this.


	15. The Final Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made it! I can’t believe I actually made it!  
> It’s still the 23rd here, so, as a little birthday present from me to myself, here you go! 
> 
> I want to thank everyone for your constant support, words, comments, kudos and likes, you guys are really, truly the best! I wouldn’t have been able to go past chapter 1 if it weren’t for you! So thank you, so, so much!
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed the ride! 
> 
> Be sure to read the end notes!

The group of stunned men were looking in horror how their precious building was cracking and snapping at the pressure of the fire. The years of hard work around their workplace, the stories shared and bonding camaraderie, had turned to ash as quickly as how the Lodge had ignited. The speed at which the raging flames were devouring the settlement was as shockingly fast as how the rumors had spread all around the kingdom. 

Terushima came running to the building, almost bursting out yellings at the sight of a group of armed men confronting Anabara, but Bobata threw him to the ground and shushed him fiercely. 

“What the hell is going on?” The blond shout-whispered to his friend.

“Everything is chaos in the city!” The other replied in a panicked low voice. “They are talking about a revolt!”

“What?” Terushima gasped, only to be shushed violently once again. “Why are they attacking the Lodgers for!?” 

The other man looked at him with wide eyes. Still unable to believe the made up stories himself. 

“They say it’s an Omegan uprising. They are destroying everything.” He said with a strained fearful voice.

“Well, not _everything_.” The cheerful voice that came from behind the pair made the men jump out of their skin. “We do plan to keep the castle.”

Both men turned to see the upsetting _familiar_ voice. 

“You?” Terushima narrowed his eyes as he gasped. A flare of anger made him grit his teeth as he sprang up violently. “You are the one behind this?!” He pointed at the burning building. “How could you do this to us?! You traitor!” He spat out the words viscerally as he stomped onto the newcomer’s space, growling at the woman he once had called a friend.

Saeko raised an eyebrow as she smirked. Her brother cracking his knuckles by her side. The big wide toothy grins from both siblings made Terushima falter.

She chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, dear.” She said, shifting her weight as she rested her hand on her hips. “I was never on your side to begin with.” The blond woman narrowed her eyes at the two Alphas, signaling her brother to step forward. Terushima noticed then the handcuffs the bald Tanaka brother was holding.

“So Yuji, tell me.” Her satisfying smile was accompanied by her sweet tone of voice, giving the blonde shivers down his spine. “How does it feel being the one hunted down, huh?”

The growl that erupted from the other Alpha made her feel accomplished. After years and years of secrecy and working in the shadows, the chance to finally and openly burn down the place and cuff the people who were responsible for the trafficking, selling and enslavery of so many free citizens. So many trembling innocent souls. The people responsible for the misery of so many Omegas that she had personally nursed back to health. The place she had tried to fight from the inside for so many long and endless years. Watching it physically burn in front of her face made her smile. Smelling the scent of smoke and ashes, just fueled her grin wider.

In the midst of their standoff, Ryu went to cuff Terushima, only for the undercut man to snarl at him and throw Bobata against the bald. Both men fell to the ground as Terushima made his desperate escape. Ryu sprang back to action, but Saeko held him in place.

“Leave him.” She said autoritarily. “By the time this is over, there won’t be a place he can go to.”

Ryu scoffed as he started to cuff the other man. He knew Saeko was right. Things had started to move along their plans. The riots that broke in the kingdom’s main cities had been effective, the capital was in total chaos and uncommunicated, unable to send relief to the many Lodge houses pleading for the help of their patrons. This was just one of the many parts to play for the kingdom to move forwards a new era of changes and they couldn’t waste time on just one individual. There was a lot of burning to do. Many other Omegas to free.

“What are you going to do with me?” The cuffed Alpha growled at the siblings.

“It all depends.” Saeko motioned for Ryu to move the prisoner along to join the others. She didn’t finish her thoughts though. Not because she wanted to be mysterious, but because she knew that right now she didn’t hold the answers. It was all up to the shoulders of the man that had promised her a new kingdom. A hope. A dream. A society where she wouldn’t see Omegas suffer. A nation that would see people instead of gender. A country where her children wouldn’t have to live in fear of their neighbours. 

A place she could proudly call home.

She started her retreat, moving onto the next Lodge house. They still had a job to do, but no matter how many Omegas they freed or places they burned down,their true freedom, the final outcome now rested solely on the shoulders of the group of men back in the castle.

  
  


\-----

  
  


The capital’s city plaza was a complete and utter chaos. Every nook and cranny of the area had been invaded by chanting citizens demanding the ceasing of the Primeveral Festival. Crying out loud the need of the liberation and protection of the Omega population. A very enthusiastic freckled Omega voicing loudly the unfairness of equality between both genders.

With the destruction and looting of the noble’s prestigious Omega sale houses, things started to scale in terms of violence and confusion, Lord Irihata, current head of Karasuno’s regent council, sent word to the rest of their group to appease the masses. An urgent message for a meet up to discuss the need to cut the flames of uncertainty and violence as quickly as they could, before things started to get really out of hand.

By the time word came that the apparent isolated movement from the capital was replicated and spreaded to the other major cities, Lord Irihata feared that the uprising hadn’t been just a coincidence, but a chain reaction coming from the rumors of an Omega openly defying the Alpha nobility by burning the Hunting Grounds.

He furrowed his eyebrows in frustration, the panic-like feeling in the back of his mind of things escalating towards the castle walls. It wasn’t that he feared the Omegas per se, but he knew the power in numbers and right now the amount of citizens running wildly unleashed was a matter to be scared about.

“What are the guards even doing!?” He shouted to the poor soul accompanying him in the castle’s corridor. “Why haven’t we heard anything about the reinforcement we asked for?” 

“I’m sorry sir.” The young man bowed in apology. “We haven’t been able to get hold of a crow to send the message yet.”

“What?!” He snapped back as he halted mid step. “And you're telling me this just now?!” He roared as he turned to make his way to the crow’s pens. He gritted his teeth. An unsettling feeling in his stomach. It was too _convenient_ for the pens to be empty. He started to analyze the current state of the situation he was facing as the heavy feeling in his stomach just got heavier and heavier with each step. 

It all started with the disturbing news of bandits attacking different Lodge houses on the outskirts of the city, he had been asked to send off knight squads to protect the settlements. Not even imagining the possibility of the capital’s own uprising just hours later, he had been caught unmanned and incapable to dispatch units to appease the riots from the capital. In a moment of weakness and whimpering demands from the scared nobles, he had been forced to send the castle own men until reinforcements came to subdue the striking masses. 

Irihata scrunched his nose. He was having the irritating feeling that everything had been too timely. Too perfectly sequenced. Almost as if it had been _planned_. But what he was now scarily aware of, was that the rest of the council hadn’t even shown up during the whole ordeal. Had he been betrayed? Was he being cut out of their deal? Was he going to become their scapegoat as they turned their back on him?

He bursted open the doors of the crow’s nests. Anger boiling in his body after confirming the emptiness of the room. No way to communicate the need of help. No way to reach for assistance from their allied countries. No way to bribe nobles for their support. He had been alienated. He was being outcast by the same men he had made rich and powerful.

“Master Irihata.” The young man by his side called for his attention. “There’s a letter for you sir.” He said, handing the envelope to the angered man.

Irihata opened the letter, knowing exactly what to expect from it. A single phrase in the middle of the parchment. No signature. No explanation. Just the words “Throne room.”

Well, he was not going down alone. He had secrets. He was going to use them against all the sly old men who thought of him as disposable.

“Traitors.” He mumbled with a growl. “All of them.” 

He turned to make his way to the throne room, ignorant of the smile the young knight that had accompanied him was wearing. Once they made it to the throne room, the light haired knight bowed to him as he opened the door. A final satisfying grin on his lips as the door closed behind the Lord, the last step of their plan being carried to completion.

“You must be outta your goddamn mind to think I can be discarded and tossed aside by the likes of you!” He shouted as he stomped into the room. “You all better think twice of the consequences of your actions!” 

“We are plenty aware of them, Lord Irihata.” A sugary voice came from the direction of the throne.

Irihata froze. He recognized that voice and it certainly _wasn’t_ part of the members of the council.

“Yo-your highness?” He asked in a trembling voice as the realization of _who_ was sitting in the throne and the men around such figure, actually were. In the heat of the moment, angered and blinded by his rage, he had just assumed the men circling the throne were the other four members of the council. Instead he was facing the first prince, his personal knight, the captain of the Royal guard, and his two other loyal lackeys; Hanamaki and Matsukawa.

“Were you expecting someone else, Lord Irihata?” Oikawa asked innocently with a smirk.

The man just narrowed his eyes at the prince. Could it be? Was all this a ploy from the prince? But how? Wait. Did he know? Was he aware of what the council had been plotting? There was no way! An Omega like him wouldn’t be able to even fathom their plans, even less become a force able to oppose them.

“I was expecting a meet up with the council, your highness.” He replied, trying not to look as nervous and suspicious as he felt. He swallowed heavily, daring himself to get more information. “Seeing the state of the kingdom, I called for them to assess the situation and plan accordingly.” He narrowed his eyes at the prince. “May I ask why are you in this room, sir?” He looked at the other men in the room warily, assessing their stares. “It’s improper for your highness to be here.” 

Oikawa chuckled humorlessly. “Regarding the council.” He started as he crossed one leg over the other. “I’m afraid they won’t be meeting you today, my Lord.” He smiled as he leaned back on the throne. “They are currently unable to leave their manors, you see.” He perched his elbows on his knees as he interlaced his fingers in front of his face. “They are currently being arrested for plotting against the kingdom and its heirs.”

Irihata’s eyebrow sprang up at the revelation. He felt the change in the atmosphere of the room. A heavy pressure coming from the men in front of him.

“Your highness.” He tried, suddenly too aware of being outnumbered. “Wha- what do you mean by that?” He asked as he feigned ignorance. “I haven’t heard of anything that could put the kingdom in jeopardy! That’s just horrible!”

Oikawa sat straighter, dropping his arms to settle them in the throne armrests. A more imposing posture.

“Regarding your question of what I’m doing here.” He continued with a stern voice that made the Lord sweat. “I thought that it was only fair.”

“Fair, sir?” The Lord asked in confusion.

Oikawa gave the man a smile that fixed him to the ground. “Yeah. I thought that if I was going to get treated and sold like a dog, I should at least bite as one first, don’t you think?”

The death glare from the entire room that set upon the noble’s figure made Irihate panic. Cold sweat was now dripping from the back of his neck. Trembling legs barely supporting his body at the thought of having been discovered.

“I don’t think I follow, your highness.” His tone of voice sounded as he was almost pleading.

Oikawa smirked devilishly. “It’s your majesty now.” An immeasurable pleasure at the wide eyed panic look in the Lord’s face. “I’m afraid you are no longer in the position to take the shots, Lord Irihata. So don’t worry about the matters of the kingdom anymore. They won’t concern you.”

The man sprang to his feet. He knew he was done. He had to find a way out, an escape. He looked at the other men with desperation in his eyes.

“Lord Irihata.” Iwaizumi’s voice commanded his attention. “Under suspicion of the attempt of treason against the crown and his majesty, Oikawa Tooru-” Irihata’s eyes widened even more as he gave a step back in fear. “-you are hereby condemned to life in prison unless proven innocent.” 

“You can’t do this to me!” The man shouted desperately. “You can’t!” He cried out as he set his glare on Oikawa. 

“You’ll be stripped of both your land and titles until the day of trial for your crimes-” Iwaizumi kept on under the loud desperate cries of the older man.

“You can’t be king!” He spatted the words in anger, ignoring the sentence reading from Iwaizumi. “You are a disgrace to the crown! An Omega will never be suited to the throne!” 

“Lord Irihata!” Daichi roared. “You are in the presence of his majesty, you shall mind your manners!”

“You may wear the crown kid, but you will never be a king!” The noble cried out. “You may think you have accomplished something today, boy!” He was now visibly fighting the restraints Hanamaki and Matsukawa were trying to bind him with. “But you are just an Omega! You have no right! You have no power!” The two knights were dragging him out of the throne room while his hollering echoed in the palace walls. “You’ll be devoured by the other nations! You will only bring your own destruction and the kingdom’s downfall with you! You are just a powerless brat ignoring his rightful place-”

The doors of the throne room were closed, silencing the yelling and cursings of the old man, leaving the other three members surrounded by the contrasting silence.

“Daichi.” Oikawa ordered, making the Royal guard to come to his side. “You can free the crows now. Send a letter to the others and inform them about the state of the capital. Send the remaining knights to settle the chaos in the city. We need to make the announcement.” He listed.

Daichi bowed proudly before abandoning the room, leaving the two friends alone in the spacious quarters. Oikawa melted on the golden chair, all his nervousness and fears sipping from his pores.

“Tooru.” Iwaizumi patted the hand of the prince. “Don’t let his words affect you. You are much more than just an Omega.” A reassuring soft smile spreaded on his face. “You won. You’ve proven them wrong.”

Oikawa chuckled softly, too heavy the weight on his shoulders to even straighten himself up. “Don’t worry about me Iwa. Your constant rudeness has made my skin tough enough to brush the words of an old sulky man.” He said teasingly at the knight.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and scoffed at the insult. So much for worrying about his feelings. He stopped to stare at the prince when he noticed the soft settling of the brunette’s hand on his. 

“So be sure to stay by my side so we can toughen the skin of our kingdom together.” He settled his stare on the eyes of the knight. “It will certainly need it.”

Iwaizumi’s scowl softened. “As your knight, I vowed to be by your side, my prince.”

Oikawa puffed his cheeks childishly. A hint of nervousness in his movements. “Not as my knight Iwa.” He placed his cheek on his hand as he smiled smugly at the other. “I was thinking more on the role of a partner.” He said, enjoying the visible nervousness from the other man. He blinked as the perfect idea came to mind. He looked at Iwaizumi with a tenacious grin, savoring the flustered face the knight was sporting. “My queen?” He asked in vicious mockery. 

The smack on his head echoed in the room. He squawked loudly.

“Only if you don't call me that. _Ever_.” Iwaizumi growled low. Clearly turning a vibrant shade of crimson.

Oikawa shielded himself from another attempted hit from the other man. “Wait.” He gasped. “So you accept?!” He asked in surprise.

Iwaizumi held the hand of Oikawa tenderly. He made the prince stand from the throne, setting himself in front of the brunette. He bent in one knee as he lowered his gaze to the ground. “How could I ever turn down a request from you.” He looked up slowly. The perfect mixture of a soft but stern look in his face smoldering into Oikawa’s eyes. “My king.” 

“Iwa-chan.” The Omega let out in a breathless whisper.

In the lit throne room, alone and in the arms of his mate, the new king, Oikawa Tooru, let himself be kissed deeply by the love of his life. The only man who would ever see his weak side again. The only Alpha who would ever make him feel frail again; because he could count on the other man to pick him up when he did so in the same way he had done it countless times before. With the same strength with which Oikawa had relied on. With the same smile and tender lips that parted for him. With the same fire that ignited the mouth now crashing against his. In his mind, there was the only reassuring thought that from that moment onwards, as long as he kept kissing the lips from his Alpha, there was truly nothing he needed to fear.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Kageyama walked along the white castle walls. His body, a mixture of nervousness, anxiety and cautiousness. He was trying to discreetly pick up the familiar scent, trying to set in his jumbled brain the reality of Hinata actually being in the castle. He needed to confirm that the Omega hadn’t been bonded, everything else didn’t matter. 

Distracted as he was, he almost ended crashing against the man who was leading him to the prince’s studio. The sudden stopping, causing the Alpha to jumble on his feet trying not to topple over the servant.

“Wait here, please.” The man said as he disappeared into the wooden doors.

A barely second later, the doors were opened, revealing the studio and the many papers scattered around which the Alpha inside hadn’t even tried to accommodate. Apparently instead, the Shiratorizawan prince had used the time between the announcement of the Karasuno prince's arrival and the actual appearance of said prince at his door to perfect the deathly glaring scowl that pinned Kageyama to the doorsill of the room.

Not knowing how to back down from a challenge; the dark haired prince stepped forward, not caring in the least the shocked gasp of the servant at his attempt of invading the space of the other Alpha. Immediately after, the room turned colder. The animosity and raging tension visible between the two men. 

“What are you doing here?” Ushijima broke the silence that had befallen the room, snapping Tobio from his intensive scowl. As if he had forgotten how, he breathed in, the smallest hint of citric filling his lungs. He stopped. The cogs in his brain finally started moving, remembering the plan. Now the challenging part began. How to announce his business without making it evident that he was here for the ginger. He gritted his teeth, cursing his lack of social skills. Damn. Oikawa had made this sound so easy.

“Here.” He said as he offered the letter written by his brother. “This explains everything.” At least he hoped. He hadn’t actually read the letter, but he definitely trusted more in Oikawa’s wording than his own. 

Ushijima grabbed the letter, blinked at it and then stared at Kageyama with his never changing facade. Without removing his glare from the other prince, Ushijima tore the letter open and read it. He glanced back at the other Alpha furrowed brows in a questioning stance.

“This doesn’t concern me.” He said in a flat tone, making Kageyama’s own eyebrows to scrunch at the words. That was certainly not the answer he was hoping so. 

“I’m afraid it does.” He started, trying to keep his calm. “The Omega you brought from the hunt has committed a crime against the throne.” He tried his hardest not to sound as desperate as he really felt about the situation. He wasn’t really sure what he could do if this whole plan backfired.

“So?” Ushijima questioned without even flinching. 

“I have to take him back.” Kageyama said a bit more harshly and more demanding than he had intended. The impassive glower from the other Alpha stirring his anger. 

The olive haired man straightened his back as he tried to impose his stature against the shorter man. “I’m afraid you don’t have the right to do so.” He said. “We are not in Karasuno, so he’s not to be judged by your nation’s laws.” He narrowed his eyes in defiance.

Kageyama fell prey to the taunting, showing his fangs at the challenging opponent. “I’ll be taking him back.” He tried to subdue the growling that tried to escape between his words.

Ushijima stepped closer as he rekindled the intimidation stance against the other prince. He lowered his body as he leaned closer to the other scowling man. “What is it? Do you have to?” He assessed the intense blue eyes locked onto him. “Or do you want to?” 

Kageyama couldn’t hold back nor stop the reverberations from slipping through his teeth. He knew that the other man had caught up with his intentions. There was no point in hiding it. If the other man was relying so much in his inner Alpha, maybe a direct challenge was what was necessary to solve their situation. As if burned by the other man’s words, he stepped forward, leaning against the other prince’s space as if screaming back “challenge accepted.”

He scoffed loudly, declaring at the other Alpha’s face how unfazed he was against his challenge. “I guess there is no point to continue with this whole facade.” He said with a smirk on his face. Maybe Oikawa was the smarter brother, but for an altercation of this type, it was clear that they needed a more _physical_ solution. “Ushijima Wakatoshi.” Kageyama announced. “I challenge you to a duel!” He demanded. 

“What would I gain from fighting you?” The other man scoffed. “You have no claim on the Omega. There is absolutely no reason for me to accept your challenge.” 

Kageyama’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t even considered the man actually refusing it. “The ginger was my prey at first, but you still snatched him from me.” He growled threateningly. “I demand a challenge for his ownership.”

Wakatoshi blinked. That wasn’t how things worked. He had earned the right to bond with the Omega. He had _won_. It was as easy as that. Why was everyone having such a hard time understanding it? “You lost. You failed to capture him before I did.” Ushijima narrowed his eyes as his eyebrows plummeted in anger. “You don’t have the right to ask for a challenge.”

Kageyama snapped. He wasn’t going to back down. He needed at least the chance. “Are you stepping back?” He asked, enraged. “Where’s your pride?” 

Ushijima snapped at the younger prince. His already stirring emotions making him lose his temper. He didn’t have the time to educate a brat nor correct the manners of an unfitting monarch. He wanted the man gone so he could fix the current chaos drowning him in his mind.

“A real Alpha knows when to fight and when to step down from a challenge.” He bit. “Know your place! You have nothing to gain here but my hatred.” Ushijima stepped forward, a belittling look on his face as he chewed the younger prince in front of him. How dared him! How dared he come here, to his own territory, demanding to take the Omega away from him. His prey. His catch. His _mate_. The growl coming from him made the blue eyed man step back. “The Omega is mine!” He snarled. “And I don’t have any intentions on giving him to the likes of you.” 

Ushijima bared his fangs closely to Kageyama’s face. The dark haired prince growled back at the loss of temper of the ever composed Alpha, surprised and fired up at the idea to prove himself against the threat of the Shiratorizawa prince. They held their stare, eyes locked and fangs about to snap. The tension building and bubbling to the point of a real threat of tearing each other’s throats off.

The man bursting the door open almost caused both princes to jump onto each other.

“Your highness!!” He hollered into the room.

“What.” The curt and dry reply from Ushijima came fueled with tension.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt sir.” The man fidgeted and bowed in clear distress. “But it's urgent.”

Ushijima glared at Kageyama. “Don’t mind the prince. He was leaving.” He said it in a way that announced that their conversation was over.

Kageyama growled subtly. He had to find a reason to stay. He had to find Hinata. He was so close. He couldn’t give up yet.

“The Omega sir!” The man shouted, freezing the two princes in the room. Ushijima's shocked expression and warning shout died in his throat when the distressed man opened his own again. “He’s not in his room, sire! He’s gone!” 

The two princes held each other avid stares. The warning glare from Ushijima reciprocated with Tobio’s own. The olive haired Alpha’s growl at the sudden triumphant smile on the blue eyed Alpha.

“As you were saying, your highness.” Kageyama tilted his head back, a wide smirk and narrowed eyes placed on the other Alpha’s features. “I was about to take my leave.”

He walked slowly out the room, closing the door as he left. He gave a deep inhale at his surroundings and sprinted towards the exit of the castle, just seconds before the room’s doors were thrown open by Ushijima’s angered fists.

He saw the shadow of the other man vanish through the corridors. A set of narrowed eyes at the invader’s back, while his own growl fueled and backed his anger. This time. This time he wouldn’t back down at the challenge of another Alpha. No. The Omega was _his_ and he was going to make sure that the pesky little thief would get the message.

  
  


\-----

  
  


“Can I ask you something?” His voice was still raspy. A little strained from his heavy heart and overwhelming emotions that hadn’t given him a moment of respite. 

“Oh?” The red haired man looked at him curiously. If he had resented the little Omega at first, Tendou was unable to hate him now. Somehow, he became impressed by the tenacity shown by him and the bonding resulting by sharing their mutual pain had made the ginger earn a soft spot in his heart. He had never been as open and vulnerable as he had been with the Omega, as if the ginger was able to break through his most inner barriers. “What do you want to know, little guy?”

The ginger scrunched his nose at the nickname. “Hinata.” He said.

Tendou cocked his head to the side, as in confusion.

“My name.” The Omega said with a little more conviction. “I would rather you call me Hinata, instead of little guy.” He puffed his cheeks annoyed. “I don’t really like the nickname.”

Tendou blinked before bursting out in laughter. He gave Hinata a fond smile. “Tendou Satori.” He grinned as the other nod his head, giving him an attempted smile back. “A little late, but nice to meet you.”

Hinata looked at the man with the same expression as before, tugging his hands back under his knees. “Um, Tendou?” He asked warily. “Why are you being nice to me?” 

Tendou blinked at the question. He could see the confusion in his expressive brown eyes and tight lips, it made him tilt his head back pondering what the Omega actually meant by that. “Why, you say?” He asked, trying to confirm the question. “Well, honestly speaking.” He furrowed his brows as he closed his eyes, reasoning. “I think I feel bad for you? I don’t see why I should treat you badly if you are already all beaten down.” He looked at Hinata just to see the other even more anguished face at his revelation. “It would be like kicking a puppy!” He finished with a cheerful revelation.

“But.” Hinata spluttered, unsure how to phrase his doubts and fears. “Don’t you hate me?” He muttered softly as he hugged his knees tighter.

“Hate you?” Tendou asked, even more confused. His eyebrows shooting up into his forehead. 

“It’s because of me that you can’t be with the prince.” Hinata gave Tendou a pitiful look. 

Tendou was staring at him perplexed. Hinata could see the instant the pieces clicked in the other man’s head. The knight let out a humorless puff of air and relaxed his stance in amusement.

“Well, not to take all the credit, but the only one responsible for my current conundrum is myself.” He sighed heavily. “Ever since I decided to be at Wakatoshi’s side I knew I wouldn’t be able to be _by_ his side. If you catch my drift.” He winked at Hinata who only blushed. Hinata looked at him intensely, currently debating whether to egg him on to keep on going or just swallow his curiosity about the other man’s tale.

Tendou scoffed tenderly in defeat. He settled himself for a retale of his life when the murmurs and bickering from outside the window caught their attention. There was muted shouting and horses neighing loudly. 

Hinata and Tendou exchanged a look. Beaten by his curiosity, the knight stood up from the Omega’s bed and got himself closer to the windowsill. Knowing how Hinata was not going to be able to see what was going outside, he felt compelled to announce it.

“Look at that!” He said cheerfully. “Apparently we have visitors.” He furrowed his eyebrows as he recognized the colors sported by the man. His mind trying to piece the puzzle of why the prince of Karasuno was visiting his stoically, socially inept friend. 

“Who is it?” Hinata couldn’t resist his curiosity.

“It’s the prince of Karasuno, Kageyama Tobio.” The knight replied, missing the wide eyed and tightened expression on the other’s face. “I’m not sure what’s his business here, though.” Tendou tilted his head to the side as he crossed his arms in wonder. “He’s never been a man of social visits.” He chuckled before raising his shoulders in a shrug. “Not that our prince is much to talk about either.” He let out in an amused voice.

Hinata was frozen in place. His heartbeat was beating a mile a minute and this time it wasn’t because he was being chased, but by the idea of the other man being just outside the window. So close, but so far at the same time. As if possessed by something he wasn’t able to identify, he moved out of the bed slowly, as in a trance, walking towards the window with painstakingly slow and shivering movements. 

The rattle of the chain surprised Tendou, making him shy away from the windowsill to look at the little Omega, surprised by how close he was and how out of himself he looked. He pursed his lips at the ginger’s sniffing attempts at the air, clearly trying to get as close as he could to the window, but the taut chain making it impossible for him to move any step closer. A soft whine escaped from his lips when the chain cut his movements.

“Hinata?” He asked, confused. His brain was working at full capacity trying to explain the sudden and clear instinctual response from the Omega. When the ginger didn’t respond, but just tugged at his collar in a last attempt to get even an inch closer, Tendou looked outside the window again. The dark haired prince sniffing the air in the same manner as the little ginger inside the room put the last piece of the puzzle together. “You and prince Kageyama?” He asked in disbelief.

Hinata flinched at the name, suddenly noticing what he was doing. His heart stopped beating as fast as it had. A sudden panic taking hold of him. Was this his reality now? Longing for an Alpha he would never have? His whole body had reacted on his own, trying to close the gap between them, just trying to reach the other man outside the window. A whole new wave of doubts and fears setting on his mind.

Was it wrong to think of the Alpha as some kind of savior? Was it wrong to wish that Kageyama had come here to rescue him? To confront Ushijima and free him? When had he become prey to his instincts as to desire with every fiber of his body to be saved, protected and taken by the blue eyed Alpha. 

His knees fell to the floor as a new wave of guilt, confusion and sadness took over his body. Was it wrong to long for the other man? Was it even allowed now that he belonged to Ushijima? Why did he feel like crying? Why did the sudden creepy fantasy of replacing the Shiratorizawa prince for Kageyama didn’t sound as horrible as it should? 

He grabbed his hair with his hand and pulled at it forcefully. A soft hand on his back snapping him from his stormy and raging thoughts.

“It’s okay.” Tendou cooed. “It’s okay.”

Hinata threw himself against the legs of the other man crying his frustration, anger and confusion. Tendou just sighed heavily, already fearing the outcome of what was to come. He understood what Hinata was feeling. He saw himself in the desperate actions from the ginger man. A forlorn look at the idea of a broken will chained to an equally forced union.

“Maybe it's time that at least one of us stretched his wings out of the cage, don’t you think?” He asked with a fond smile. 

Hinata reeled back harshly, red eyes and squinting eyebrows pleading for the other man to continue his thoughts. 

The red haired knight squatted, stilling himself aided by Hinata’s shoulders. They shared a long stare before the hands of the man started working on the Omega’s collar. With a hard clunking noise, Hinata felt the freedom on his neck and just stared at the other man with a blank expression, not even daring to hope.

“Make sure to make the most of your flight, little bird.” He stood up with the collar in his hands, the rattling of the chain as he moved away from the Omega. 

Hinata remained frozen, unable to understand what was going through the mind of the other man.

“Why-” He choked. “Why would you do this?” The question came before he could stop it. “The prince is going to kill you.”

Tendou set the collar on the bed, making his way now to the door with slow strides. He turned on his heels with a playful tilt to his side and a grinning expression. A soft chuckle finishing the devilish look. 

“I’m just a greedy person.” He gave as an answer. 

The faintest sweet scent made it to Hinata’s nose. His eyes widened at the realization.

“It has always been my pride and my curse.” Tendou finished with a knowing smile.

Hinata stared at him gratefully as he stood up. “Thank you.” He phrased it with the heavy implication at the possibility of his defeat.

“I don’t know how much time I can give you. But be sure to use it well.” Tendou grabbed the food tray at the table on the side, he opened the door and looked back at the Omega. “I mean it when I say that I really hope I don’t get to see you again.” He chuckled as he made his way out of the room, closing it as he disappeared from the threshold.

Hinata smiled. Renovated strength and hope at his freedom. This was his last chance. The last run. The last time he would be able to escape. He knew it in his bones, with all his vibrating self, that whatever happened, this was the last time he could fight to be a free man. He climbed down the window carefully, much more gracefully than his first attempt when escaping from Tendou. He hit the ground and started to run.

It would be an hour later that the doors of the room would be open again only for it to be found empty. 

  
  


\-----

  
  


By the time Hinata managed to elude the castle guards, dashed through the gardens, jumped over the northern gate and made it outside the walls that confined the perimeter of the Shiratorizawa palace, his pursuers had been already notified of his disappearance. 

The unfamiliar scents and constant threats to his escape brought back to him the vivid memories and feelings from the Primeveral festival’s hunt, setting ablaze his survival instincts and making him relive the nightmarish echoes that now haunted his dreams. The other most pressuring side effect of this rekindling of memories, was the nagging realization that the blue-eyed Alpha was actually in the area, making his inner Omega shake at the possibility of a reencounter. 

This was why he didn’t want to know the other man’s name. This was why he had feared to actually talk to the Alpha back in the cave. This exact feeling was what he had been dreading about even meeting him in the first place. Whatever the feeling was, Hinata was already fearing it. 

He was forced to turn mid dash and hide in the forestry nearby as he noticed that the only way out of the unfamiliar terrain was being blocked by the two guards guarding the stone cobble bridge. Hinata looked at his surroundings; the lake appeared to be his only way to continue on foot and undiscovered.

The neighing of distant horses made him jump out of his skin. Apparently the prince had been notified of his little escape attempt. As he tried to settle down his rabbit heart, the chilly breeze blew against his face. At first he was grateful for the cooling of his skin, but when the clear predatory growl sounded at the distance, he was reminded that he wasn’t wearing any scent blockers. 

With renewed vigor and panic he dashed deeper into the woods, fearful tears threatened to spill as he tried to convince himself that he was a great swimmer, even though he had never touched a lake before. His puffs of breaths became erratic and quick, the desperation at being hunted and forever caged becoming too real for him to even think rationally.

A new breeze picked up a scent. A familiar scent. 

As if by the call of a mermaid, his heart skipped a beat when his legs moved by themselves in recognition. He saw him at the distance. The other man’s stare locked him in place. The ever intense blue eyes making his own water at the sight. The stillness of the moment extending forever as none of the two boys dared to move, fearing that the spell would be broken if they even acknowledged the very real presence of the other. 

The blue eyed Alpha breathed out and Hinata could feel the euphoria at the relief washing him over. His musky scent was intense as ever, driving Hinata’s inner Omega to the brink of despair as he felt the pulling _need_ to run towards the other man that smelled like thunder, like rain, like _safety_. He didn’t even think. He couldn’t. Before he could even control himself he was running, stretching his arms desperately at the man.

“Kageyamaaaa.” He cried out as the other man dashed towards him in return. 

They locked on a tight embrace as Hinata just plummeted at the weight of his anguish. The Alpha hugged him fiercely as if fearing that the other man would just disappear if he didn’t hold onto him as desperately as he did.

“Are you okay?” The Alpha urged. “Are you hurt anywhere?” 

“How-” Hinata started after composing himself a little, grabbing the hands of the Alpha who kept on touching him for injuries. “What are you doing here?” He managed to get out.

Kageyama stopped his movements and smirked at the Omega, a grin too smug for Hinata’s good.

“I told you, didn’t I?” He narrowed his eyes at him. “I don’t lose.” 

Hinata just stared at him in disbelief. Too many questions, too many emotions making it impossible to settle for a reply. The laughter bursted out naturally, as a balm to his fears.

“Stupid, stupid, Kageyama!” He cried out without a bite as he hit the other man playfully. 

Tobio just huffed humorously, he couldn’t describe the feeling he had in that exact moment. All felt so surreal and impossible. Hinata was finally in his arms, safely tucked and smiling. Everything was okay. Everything was going to be fine.

He hugged Hinata tightly, savoring the sweet smell coming from him. No distress, no fear, just the sweet citric tones in his scent. “I promised you.” He said softly and sweetly. “I would be the one to hunt you down, remember?” He said as he pressed his face against the Omega’s neck. The chuckled reply came just as low vibrations that made Kageyama’s nose tickle. He hugged the ginger tighter, bathing himself in the warmth and brightness emanating from the body in his arms hugging him back as tightly as him.

“Omega.”

The cold and stern voice made the couple freeze in the spot. Dreading the outcome of even lifting his head, Kageyama looked up to meet the deadliest glare threatening his soul directly.

“This is the last time you disrespect me like this.” The voice was harsh and filled with disdainful anger.

Kageyama noticed how the threat was directed at the ginger, making his blood boil in answer. How _dared_ he even think about threatening Hinata? Kageyama disentangled from the Omega, the horror stricken eyes of Hinata made him growl low in reaction. He turned slowly and pushed the ginger towards his back, locking his own death glare against Ushijima. A protective arm stretched as a shield.

Ushijima raised an eyebrow in scorn, not even concerned nor humored from the display. He scoffed as he ran out of patience. “What you are doing is meaningless.” He said in a tone of voice that implied a very heavy eye roll, even if the prince wouldn’t know what it meant to do one. “You are surrounded and undermanned.” The Alpha pointed at the many guards now rounding up the couple. “If you give back my mate now, I’ll forgive this display of idiocy.” He warned.

Kageyama assessed the men surrounding them, maybe he would be able to take a few quickly and successfully, but if Ushijima came to attack him at the same time, he wouldn’t be able to defend the Omega while fighting the group. He gritted his teeth at the pressing realization that his plan was far from doable. He looked over his shoulder at Hinata who looked as fierce as he felt.

“Over my dead body.” He growled back.

Ushijima frowned, his lips pressed in a tight line, he went to reach the handle of his sword. “I don’t want to resort to that kind of behaviour.” He said sternly, but then the tiniest pull of his lip made Kageyama think that, maybe, Ushijima was not such a good liar after all. “But you are not in your kingdom anymore.” He took the sword out of its sheath and raised it towards Kageyama. “In Shiratorizawa, those words have the weight to make the sword fall.” He threatened. 

Kageyama felt the tightening of Hinata’s hand around his wrist. The idea of the Omega fearing for his safety steeling his resolve to protect him. “I’ve got bigger fears than your sword.”

Ushijima gritted his teeth. Anger fueling his words.

“I hope you get to see them, then.” He raised his sword as he finished his words, the tightening of the handle and the downward motion made Kageyama close his eyes as he turned to cover and shield the Omega with his body.

He felt it.

The searing pain in his neck. The blood dripping from the wound. The weight of the sword at the base of his neck made it impossible to move. 

He clenched his teeth as he refused to open his eyes. He was afraid of the sight of his own blood. Of his own death. He thought of the Omega. He regretted not having accomplished his mission. He had foolishly died in vain as Hinata would have to live forever under the claws of the man who had just killed him.

A couple of seconds passed.

Why was he still feeling his wounds? Shouldn’t death be, you know, quicker?

He opened his eyes warily, peeking at his surroundings in confusion. Fearing to look at his own injuries first, he glanced at the men that seemed frozen in place, pale in shock. Instinctually, he turned his head to glance at Ushijima, the pain and weight of the wound forcing him to barely move his neck. 

The Alpha prince was almost as shocked as his men. Hand still in the air, sword up in the sky.

Wait. If the sword hadn’t striked him, then-

The wet press of something on his wound and the tickling sensation at his neck made him snap his head at the now moving orange mass of hair obscuring his view. Hinata straightened himself, standing up in a defiant stance. His lips were smeared with blood and his little fangs on display were mirroring the indentations around Kageyama’s neck.

“I can’t be your mate.” Hinata announced as he growled angrily. “I’m already his.” 

Kageyama stared at the scene gaping in disbelief. He placed a hand on his nape, the surreal image of Hinata’s fangs leaving the marks now adorning his neck causing his brain to malfunction. “What-” 

Ushijima’s hold on his sword wavered. The metal clanked loudly as it made contact with the ground. The Alpha blinked in stupefaction as his shocked blank expression became even eerier than the still metallic echoing against the silence of their surroundings.

Kageyama stood there, knees stuck to the ground and blinking at the Omega, still unable to process what had just happened.

“Why-?” He managed before the eyes of Hinata locked onto his, making him forget what he was going to ask in the first place.

Hinata blinked once, understanding the confusion on the face of Kageyama. He grinned widely as a flush of pink dusted his cheeks. “I told you, didn’t I?” He asked smugly, a sense of pride filling his body. “I was the one who was going to beat you.”

Kageyama stared at him, blinking slowly as if processing the information. His whole body vibrating at the realization of what the Omega had done. A wide smile came to set on his face as he chuckled in defeat. Take Hinata to actually fulfill his threat and make him happy that he had succeeded. He pounced at the ginger, hugging him tightly, enjoying and drinking the laughter escaping from the Omega. _His_ Omega.

“Stupid! Stupid Hinata!” He growled as the other tried to escape from the tight hold.

“Agh! Kageyama! Stop!” Hinata cried back halfheartedly, between a laughing fit and actually trying to get out of the other man’s embrace.

“Omega.” 

The stoic voice brought the display to an abrupt end. Both struggling parties looking up at the voice.

“I acknowledge my defeat.” The ever expressionless face of the olive haired Alpha melted in a soft smile. “It seems I still have things I need to learn, after all.” He closed his eyes in acceptance. “I’m sorry.”

Hinata broke free from Kageyama’s arms, helping the other to stand up to face the prince. Hinata sporting an equally stern face, still deciding how to feel about everything. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

“I accept your apology.” He settled.

Ushijima huffed amused. The little ginger kept on surprising him. Making doubt his own self, wanting to get better, to be better. Wanting to pursue his own happiness. Wanting to learn so many more things that the ginger seemed to have ingrained in his soul.

“I hope you’ll continue to teach me.” Ushijima said as he outstretched his hand.

Hinata blinked surprised, not even imagining that the man before him could be the same one who had slapped him just a couple of days ago. He looked warily at the Alpha as his conversation with Tendou came to mind, as if he was being reminded once again, that no matter the difference in status of the other, the privileges the other may have grown accustomed to, the way they faced the world and its problems, at the end of the day, they were still all equally human. They would still have to jump at the hurdles in front of them. They would still feel suffering and pain. They would stumble, break and come back up from their fall. And most importantly; they were equally capable of changing, of improving, of learning. They just needed a little shove, a little push into the right direction.

Hinata's smile came brightly at this thought. 

“Hinata Shouyo.” He said as he accepted the other man’s hand, shaking it enthusiastically. “If we are going to be friends, you should start by calling me by my name.”

“Friends?” Ushijima asked, perplexed. 

“Don’t get me wrong! I’m very angry at you!” Hinata said, puffing his cheeks angrily and pointing an incriminatory finger towards the Alpha. “I’m especially furious with your stupid king!” He groaned. He looked at Ushijima seriously before he smiled one more time, as brightly as before. “But you apologized for it. And that’s what matters. We may as well move from that point forward.”

Ushijima relaxed his eyebrows, Hinata’s smile rubbing onto the prince. “I’d like that.”

“Friends then!” He said cheerfully before turning towards Kageyama. “You too!” He demanded angrily. “What was the whole I’d rather you kill me thing! I almost passed out from the anxiety!” He cried out indignantly.

“You were worried?” Kageyama asked, still trying to settle things in his mind.

“Of course I was!” Hinata cried out. “How could I not when you could have died!?” A soft flush of pink dusted his cheeks as he avoided the eyes of the Alpha, a soft look on his own brown eyes. “I feared I would lose you.”

Kageyama’s chest tightened as his grin doubled in size at the words of the Omega. How could have he doubted the feelings for his orange haired sun? He was so happy. So thrilled at the reciprocity of his own overflowing need to be by Hinata’s side. He was battling the urge to just pounce onto him once more, the need to have him physically close, reassuring him that they could be and would be together. That he wouldn’t have to lose him. That he would be there for him. That he had chosen to do so.

Kageyama nodded. What else could he do but obey his little Omega? He turned to face the Alpha, settling for his normal smirk and directed it at the other prince. “I win.” He said outstretching his hand at the other prince. Hinata smacked his forehead with his palm.

Ushijima smirked back and shook on it. “Next time, I won’t lose.” His words weren’t directed at a new challenge for the Omega, but at the idea of challenging the Alpha in him. The recognition of the skills of the Karasuno’s prince that didn’t imply strength, power or fierceness; but something that the olive haired man lacked. The unknown factor that clearly had made the little ginger choose Kageyama instead of him. 

The Alphas let go of their hands, a knowing smile at the issued challenge. Kageyama grabbed Hinata’s shoulder tenderly and started to move towards the direction of the castle, making the Omega to follow suit. He was eager to get back home, a stupid grin plastered on his face. He looked down at Hinata, catching him looking up at his Alpha by his side, blushing at the sudden thought. Kageyama noticed and directed his smirk at the little ginger. 

“What was what you said?” He asked the ginger smugly. “That you’d die before a bond?” 

Hinata sputtered as he choked on air. “I was saving your life!” He cried out equally offended and embarrassed. “You should be more thankful and less bratty.” He groaned, puffing out his cheeks.

Kageyama laughed tenderly, making the Omega’s ears turn a bright shade of pink. “I guess I can count this as my win then.” He smirked with renovated enthusiasm. 

“What?!” Hinata jumped at the challenge. “No way! I beated you!” He whined angrily. “This is my win! Don’t even try to take it from me.”

Kageyama grinned back at the ginger. Having the Omega bickering at his side, jumping at the challenge, mocking him and demanding his attention? Yeah. There was no way that he would count this as anything but his own victory. He decided to let the boy gloat in his victory as they made his journey finally back home. 

Wakatoshi stood in place looking as the two figures disappeared from his field of vision. A heavy weight on his shoulders as he ordered the rest of the guards to return to their posts. Defeat didn’t taste good in his lips, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to share it with anybody either. He heaved a sigh as he looked over his shoulder at the looming presence in the background.

As if hearing his thoughts, the red haired man came from the shadows to perch himself at his shoulder. A look of worry on his face.

“Are you all right?” He asked.

“Tendou.” The Alpha voiced his foremost concern. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

Tendou’s eyes narrowed at the accusation, a warm smile tugging his lips after looking at the expression of his prince.

“I’d never do something that would compromise your happiness, my prince.” He answered with an honest smile. Even though the decision was taken in the heat of the moment out of pity for Hinata, the resolve to unshackle the ginger came from the pain to see his prince chained to regret and misery of the forced union. He wanted Wakatoshi to be happy, a miserable mate by his side would not give him the happiness he wanted for the Alpha.

“Thank you.” The answer had been stern but not devoid of feeling.

Tendou blinked at him in surprise, clearly not expecting it in the least.

Ushijima tightened his lips in frustration. “I guess.” He started with a solemn voice. “That at the end I just wanted to show that I was the stronger Alpha. I wanted to show him, to make him choose me.” He gave in a pause reflecting on his words. “I wasn’t thinking about it. I just _really_ wanted it.” He said as he looked up at the sky. As if the answers to what he was feeling would appear magically from thin air. “Isn’t it childish?” 

Tendou smiled fondly, the feeling of pride fluttering in his chest. 

“But isn’t what drives people childish in general?” He questioned the prince back. “The pursuit of our own desires above the rest?”

Ushijima huffed in reply. The image of the smiling Omega in the arms of the other Alpha. How Hinata had run towards Kageyama at the other’s sight, seeking his protection. How the ginger had given away his freedom to save the life of the prince. How he had smiled at the other Alpha when he had done so.

“I realized what I’ve been wanting. Why I’ve been so confused.” He looked at Tendou for reassurance, locking his eyes with his red haired knight. 

Tendou tutted happily. “I feel like I’m seeing a new side of you, Wakatoshi-kun.” He crossed his arms behind his back as he tilted his upper body towards the Alpha. “I’m really happy for you.”

Ushijima nodded back. “I think I have to thank you for helping me realize it.” He said as a soft smile settled on his face. “Can I rely on you when I get stuck again?” 

Tendou narrowed his eyes fondly as the soft chuckle escaped from his lips. “You can bet on that.”

Ushijima looked upon the retreating figures at the distance, a warm feeling at the friendly bickering the two were showing. “Then I'll work to become the leader you can be proud of as well, Tendou.”

He smiled at the prince’s new resolve. 

“I’ll be looking forward to it, then Wakatoshi-kun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you say anything, it's important to note that even though this is technically the last chapter of HS, I plan to add an Epilogue after the holidays, so I can wrap up the story with a nice and shiny bow. I’ll also be replying to the comments and question you may have had from the story in the next entry, so feel free to hit me with as many as you have.
> 
> I wish you the merriest of holidays and the cheeriest of whatever you do or don’t celebrate!
> 
> Oh! I forgot! I made a twitter account! I'm still figuring out how it works, but you can find update messages, retweets of amazing HQ art and story/world building for my next fics here!
> 
> https://twitter.com/Eguko_fics  
> @Eguko_fics


	16. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021 guys! Hope it's one filled with KageHinas! The author notes are at the end! Just enjoy this last bit :3

“You know? I never thanked you properly.” Hinata’s voice came to break the comfortable silence that had befallen on them.

Kageyama had been feeling so content and satisfied after the successful retrieval of the Omega, that he hadn’t even minded the awkward positioning of the ginger squished between the horse’s saddle and himself. He had been so out of it, that Hinata’s voice startled him and before he even noticed what he was doing, the dumbfounded and questioning expression had already been painted on his face.

“For rescuing me.” Hinata continued, assuming Kageyama’s face came from genuine confusion, instead of surprise. “First from the dogs and, well-” The faint dust of embarrassed gratitude came to paint his face. “-For coming for me now.”

Kageyama still looked perplexed at him, unable to reply to the affection sliding from the ginger’s words. 

“Not that I wouldn't have been able to escape by myself!” The Omega kept on, now a little defensive before a sweet smile came to his face again. “But it was nice to know that you came for me.”

“I would always come for you.” The serious expression on Kageyama’s face made Hinata blink in surprise before chuckling amusedly. “What’s so funny?” Kageyama asked, angered by the reaction of the Omega. He huffed as he pressed his heels onto the horse’s side to make it go a little faster, making Hinta yelp nervously and grab the seat tightly. Kageyama was the one smirking now, having enjoyed making the other one sport all his different and equally cute expressions.

“Oi! Stop it!” Hinata squawked. “Not so fast! I’m gonna fall!” 

Kageyama reduced the speed of the steed before pulling a lopsided grin. “Afraid of horses?” He teased, only to receive a soft smack on the stomach by Hinata as he puffed his cheeks.

“It’s not like I have had any experience horse riding!” He whined.

“Well, I’ll teach you back in the castle then.” Kageyama said with a proud smile. 

Hinata felt a sudden chill in his body at the words. It was his first time understanding the real implications of having bitten the prince. Of having announced so enthusiastically the prospect of being the Alpha’s mate. He had resigned to his previous life. To a life of freedom and choices. If they mated, he would have to live in a faraway palace, forever at the prince’s side. What would happen to his pack? What would happen to Natsu? Hadn’t all this fighting been for her? For their freedom? He didn’t even know if Oikawa had made it back. For all he knew, his sacrifice had been in vain.

_ “The prince of Karasuno, Kageyama Tobio.” _ The words of Tendou came to him as an epiphany.

“You are the prince of Karasuno!” Hinata gasped after the realization. “Wait!” Hinata cried out enthusiastically as his heart started racing at the ideas formulating in his head. Kageyama should know if Oikawa made it out of the forest. He would know if he was all right, if the prince could actually be able to fulfil his promise. “Do you know Oikawa?!” 

“Um. Yes?” Kageyama looked confused. “He is my older brother. He is the one who told me where you were.”

Hinata’s eyes widened. So Oikawa not only had made it back, but he had helped Kageyama in rescuing him? Did that mean that the Omega prince would make everything alright? Would that mean Natsu was going to be okay? That he wouldn’t have to fear for the future of his sister? Of his, well… his previous pack? He didn’t want to focus on what their bond meant yet. What he was or not allowed to do from now on. He just wanted to think of the hopeful future awaiting his family and friends.

“I can’t believe it.” Hinata murmured to himself. “You know what this means?” He asked the other this time, a little louder. “We can be free!” He cried out happily as he hugged Kageyama tightly. “Oikawa is safe. He will fulfill his promise and we will be finally free.”

“Free?” Kageyama asked, still confused.

Hinata let the other go, still with a wide smile on his face. “The Omegas.” He paused to breathe out with a pleased huff. “He promised to free all of us.” Hinata saw the pinched eyebrows on the prince’s face and something within himself stirred. Was the prince worried about what he had said? The realization made Hinata squirm uncomfortably. “I meant all Omegas who are not bonded yet.” He laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his neck, trying to appease the prince’s worries. “Like my sister! She’ll be free from ever participating in the hunt!” He finished quickly.

This made the prince change his expression for one of surprise.

“This is the sister that you helped?” Kageyama asked, now remembering their conversation in the cave.

“That’s right!” Hinata beamed at the idea of meeting Natsu once again. “I can’t wait to see her again! She must have been so worried!” His smile decreased a bit as he thought about the whereabouts of her sister. “I just hope she is all right.”

Kageyama was having that tightened feeling in his stomach again. The idea of losing Hinata to another Alpha was horrible, but the idea of the Omega leaving on his own will was making him anxious. He scratched the mark on his neck, a sudden itch needed to be soothed. 

He had never heard of a bond from an Omega before. What were the implications? What did it even mean? Did it have any effect on any of them? This wasn’t a mating bond, so it shouldn’t be permanent, but was it even considered a bond? Could Kageyama hold onto Hinata by his will? Did the prince actually want to do so? Wasn’t that something he learned he shouldn’t do? Maybe he could offer to bring Hinata’s sister to the palace as well? He could do that, right? There was enough room in the palace, of course they could accommodate them happily. He just didn’t want the Omega to leave him.

“Kageyama?” Hinata ventured, breaking the Alpha’s thoughts.

“What?” The prince asked a little too harshly, without meaning to.

“I asked you how long till we get to the kingdom, geez.” Hinata scoffed. “No need to be so uptight about everything.” 

“Sorry.” The prince muttered, scowl still in his face. “We are already within the borders of the kingdom. We should be in the capital in about an hour.” He said as he gazed at their surroundings.

Some shouting at the distance caught their attention, making them both snap their heads towards the origin of the noise.

“What’s that?” Hinata asked as he leaned forwards trying to get a better view.

“It looks like the royal guard.” Kageyama tilted his head to the side. “What are they doing here?”

As they made their way to the far away scene, a sudden riot broke out from the people gathered there. Kageyama halted the horse in time before they could get too close for someone to recognize the stallion or the horse rider, but close enough to hear the chanting of the men clearly fighting and resisting the ones cladded in armor.

“We won’t yield! Omegas don’t reign!” They cried out as some men managed to scatter along the roads getting themselves lost in the forest.

Hinata and Kageyama exchanged a worried look. Unsure of what was happening in front of them and with the Omega in his care, Kageyama turned the horse out of the way of the scuffle and kicked it into a faster pace. He needed to make it back to the castle first, the chanting of the men giving him an unpleasant gut feeling. He had to make sure that his own brother was okay. He could worry about the rest afterwards. 

  
  


\-----

“The southern border has fallen into the rebel’s hands, your majesty. But we managed to secure the eastern and southeastern posts. We’ll send reinforcements as we can, but-” The older man sighed. The stressed and tired expression on the General’s face talked about his deeds and struggles in the past days. “With the cleansing of our troops that rejected the new monarchy, it will be hard to reach the numbers we need to subside the different uprisings, your majesty.”

Oikawa looked at the older man with worry in his face. The news weren’t as dire as he thought, but they weren’t great either. He had expected some resistance from the masses, especially powerful nobles and Alphas who profited from the previous reign. The pride of the old ways and traditional views weaving themselves into the minds of powerful and influential families, creating the first of a very impending wave of rebellions that, if not extinguished quickly, could lead into a very probable civil war. People whose interests were being affected by the taking over of an Omega king, willing to give equal rights to the abused citizens by raising the status and dignity of those who weren’t deemed as rightful of a decent life. 

“Master Ukai, are we still holding trials for Alphas and Betas only?” Oikawa asked.

“Of course, your majesty.” The General replied. “We are taking extra caution on their background and families, sire. The possibility of someone trying to gain your favor-”

“What about Omegas?” Oikawa interrupted. “Are any Omegas trying to enlist themselves?”

Ukai shared a questioning look to the king and his advisors. This was certainly not the questioning he thought he was being led to. “We haven’t allowed it yet.” He straightened himself. “It’s the army, my king. It would be too dangerous to-”

“If I want to give equal opportunities to my people, to  _ all _ my people,” Oikawa started, emphasizing on the words. “I need to treat all of them equally.” He finished as he stood up from his chair. He went around the table that rounded up the members of his trusted and valuable group of advisors. 

“But Oikawa,” Sugawara started. “I know you mean well, but you can’t expect that every Omega would just raise their arms to fight, do you?”

“I expect that people who are capable and strong will be selected to defend this kingdom regardless of gender.” He said authoritatively. “If we want to stop prejudice and discrimination, we should start by giving people opportunities to prove themselves in the field they choose and stop deciding what they can or can’t do, don’t you agree?”

There was an audible muttered agreement at the idea.

“If we want to protect what we have created, we need to start by defending it. What is the best way to defend it but by the people who actually believe in it?” He finished. “Send notice to the cities that the army is now enlisting any capable warrior, no matter gender, experience or background. If they want to fight for this new kingdom, they are welcomed.” 

The people nodded and started to gather their things as the meeting was considered adjourned. Master Ukai got up from his chair and went towards Oikawa’s side. 

Bursting out with a hearty laugh, he gave a pad on the king’s shoulder. “I’m really glad that you step up to this challenge, kid.” He said, clearly affected by the easiness feeling that surrounded the room. “I’m so glad to finally see things moving to a new era.”

“I’d just hope that all people could see it that way.” The king replied with a heavy sigh. “I expected some resistance, but I’m afraid of how much it has become.”

Ukai frowned and gave a knowing nod. “Not all people are friends with what is new, my king. It takes time to make peace with changings, especially if that affects you personally.” He crossed his arms before continuing. “It’s how they say, winning comes easy. Governing? that’s harder.” 

Oikawa chuckled at that. Yeah. He could relate.

“A horse is heading this way, your majesty!” The voice of Daichi came to interrupt the amicable chatting of the small group of people gathered in the assembly room.

“Colors?” Iwaizumi asked as the other one focused the lens of his leather and metal spyglass.

“Black stallion. Karasuno colors. Two riders.” Daichi announced. “Wait. I think that’s-”

“Tobio!” Oikawa threw himself towards the window at the description of the horse and riders. A wide grin at the barely distinguishable figures on the horse. “Is it okay that I’m genuinely afraid of how little time he took.” He turned to Iwaizumi who rolled his eyes as an answer. “Do you think we should be prepared for more bad news?” He asked between a half hearted joke and actual worry.

Iwaizumi glared at him. “Have a little faith in your brother  _ actually _ doing his job properly, would you?”

They were already halfway down the stairs when Kageyama made his way to the castle’s foyer with Hinata trotting by his side, wide eyes in wonder as he ogled the inside of the building.

“Karasuno has nothing to be jealous of Shiratorizawa!” He said as his eyes roamed the beautiful golden columns and intricate paintings decorating the walls. “This place is amazing!”

Kageyama clicked his tongue smugly. “I told you.”

“Hinata!” It was Sugawara the one who came running down the stairs embracing the smaller boy in a tight hug, toppling both of them to the floor with emotional laughter. “You are okay!” He cried out almost tearing up.

“Suga!” The ginger squawked back happily. “You are here!” He managed to avert his face from the older’s neck and noticed the group coming to welcome them. “Oikawa! Daichi! Iwaizumi!” He counted as his grin grew wider and wider. “Everyone’s here!”

Sugawara leaned back to take a better look at the ginger, he noticed the small cuts in his lip and the tattered clothes from his escape attempts, but smiled widely seeing that the boy seemed perfectly fine. He gave him another tight hug as Oikawa came to his side, the same emotions overwhelming the trio. 

“Are you okay? Where you bonded? Hit? Tortured?” Sugawara kept on asking as he kept on inspecting the ginger for any missable markings Hinata could be hiding.

“I’m okay! Kageyama came just in time to help me escape.” Hinata chirped enthusiastically.

Sugawara let out his breath in relief. He took one good look at the beaming smile of the ginger before grimacing at the outfit the short man was wearing. “We need to take you out of these before anyone starts having any stupid ideas.” He grabbed Hinata by his shoulder to help him stand, but stopped as he noticed something strange coming from the Omega’s scent. With furrowed brows, he leaned onto Hinata to sniff him more carefully, unsure of what it was, prompting Oikawa to side glance Tobio and notice his sudden flushed cheeks at the realization.

“You!” The king gasped with a menacing growl. “Tell me that you didn’t, did you?” 

Kageyama jolted in place, actually scared and unsure of what to say. “No! Of course not!” He quickly shoved his panicked hands between him and his brother. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t bite him! He bit me!” He said shoving a finger towards Hinata, who flinched back at the accusation.

“Don’t lie to me Tobio! You took advantage, didn’t you?” Oikawa blamed as he narrowed his eyes.

“Oikawa.” Suga stopped the other as he inspected Hinata’s nape area. “He’s telling the truth, there’s no mark in Hinata’s neck.” He said in equal parts shocked and amused. “It’s that true Hinata?" Suga asked puzzled. " _ You _ bit  _ him _ ?” 

Hinata turned into a mumbling and crimson ball of nerves as he laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed at having to explain his actions. “Well, yes.” He started as he avoided looking at Suga. “But I did it to save his life!” He blurted out as he tried to excuse himself. “Ushijima threatened to kill him! So I bit him and told him that I was his mate.” Hinata fidgeted with his fingers as he  _ really _ tried not to feel whatever was making him so anxious. “That way Ushijima wouldn’t have any claims on me.” 

Oikawa looked at Kageyama with a curious look, threatening him in his own non verbal way to tell the truth. He noticed the saddened expression on the Alpha’s face at the ginger’s words.

“That’s basically it.” The Alpha confirmed with a one shoulder shrug and a not very amused voice that eluded everyone but his brother’s ears. 

Oikawa narrowed his eyes at the pairing, musing over the words of the first and the reaction of the second.  _ So, little Tobio wanted to be chosen by will and not by circumstances? _ This was definitely something that made Tooru proud. He smiled as he realized once again that his brother was someone capable of changing and growing. The idea of him finding the partner that could make him continue to grow and learn made Oikawa relieved.

“Well.” Oikawa started, deciding to give the couple a little push into the right direction. “There is little known of Omega initiated bonding.” He said as he got closer to Kageyama to inspect the mark now evident in the side of his neck. “But from what it’s written, it doesn’t work like when an Alpha does it.” A pair of brown expectant eyes locked on his as he continued explaining. “It doesn’t create a connection as the Alpha does. It doesn’t influence decisions nor commands.” He opened his arms as he shook his head in resignation. “In other words, as neither of you are in their cycles, what Tobio has right now is just a bite mark on the neck that will probably fade in time.” 

Oikawa looked at how Kageyama visibly deflated. In all honesty, the Alpha had expected as much, as he didn’t feel any kind of impulse to obey or primal satisfaction at following the ginger’s commands, things that would have happened to the Omega in order to reinforce the instinct and habits of following the Alpha’s orders. But to know that it actually didn’t mean anything? It would open the doors for Hinata to leave. There were no strings attached, no real bond between them. Nothing that would make Hinata want to stay by his side anymore.

“So,” To Kageyama’s surprise, the voice coming from the little ginger had a tone of worry rather than one of relief. “The bond really means nothing? Nothing at all?” Hinata was apprehensive in both mannerisms and tone of voice. 

Oikawa chuckled softly. He could try to ignore it or even deny it, but there was no mistake that Hinata was indeed at least infatuated with his brother. It didn’t matter what he did or the hurdles they got sent in their way, Oikawa couldn’t deny that there was something deeper in their relationship. It wasn’t just Kageyama, the one wrapped around the other’s little finger after all.

“Oh, but it certainly means something, chibi-chan~.” The king singsonged with a fond smile directed to a confused Hinata. “It means that you chose to value little Tobio’s life more than your own.” Hinata’s eyes grew even wider at the realization. “At least I think that means much more than a simple bite mark, wouldn’t you agree?” He winked at the other two.

Hinata side glanced at Kageyama, who was looking at the Omega with renewed hope in his eyes. The Omega sported a shy smile, a small blush on his cheeks as he acknowledged the words from Oikawa.

“Did you encounter any problems on your way back?” Iwaizumi interrupted their little bonding moment, making Oikawa almost want to snarl at him for his horrible room reading skills and inopportune rudeness, but he couldn’t deny that, now that Hinata was safely back in the castle, his brother’s relationship was maybe second on his list of pressing priorities.

“We saw bandits? I guess?” Kageyama replied, trying to recall their encounter. “Near the western post. The royal army was trying to subdue them.” 

Oikawa sighed. “I’m afraid they were no bandits.”

Tobio recognized the tone, his scowl returned as he remembered the contents of the letter and the state he had left the palace just a couple of days ago. “Tooru.” He demanded the other’s attention. “What happened?”

“Your brother took the throne from the council. The masters were arrested and the kingdom is in a state of chaos.” Iwaizumi replied before Oikawa could. “What you saw was probably one of the many rebel groups that are trying to stir the kingdom into a war.”

“A war?!” Hinata gasped. “There’s a war coming?!”

“We are trying to stop that from happening.” Daichi answered with a more comforting tone. “Rest assured, we are doing all we can to stop the rebellions from spreading further.”

Hinata was not very comfortable with those words. _ Spreading further? _ That meant that there were already zones under the influence and control of very angered people that had some kind of hatred to the Omegan king, probably to the Omegan population in general; Omegas such as his sister. 

“Wait!” Hinata cried out at the worried feeling that was setting in his stomach. “Yukigaoka Village!” He pleaded. “It’s a small village in the south! Do you know if it's okay?” 

The group looked at each other sharing a distressed face. Hinata understood it before they could come up with the words.

Dread invaded his body as the idea of his sister being in real danger took hold of his mind. He needed to make sure that she was safe. He was the older brother, he needed to protect her. He needed to be there for her. He sprang up in a swift motion, brotherly instincts before rationality in his movements.

“Hinata, wait!” Sugawara grabbed his wrist tightly. “We don’t know what’s happened there, but it's not certain that the village has been attacked either!” He tried to drill some reason into the other’s head. “It’s safer to just wait for the army to come back with the news and for them to secure the area.”

“Do you expect me to wait here doing nothing while my sister may be in danger?” He cried out. “I need to go! She needs me!” 

“Shouyo.” Oikawa warned with his authoritative voice. “You can’t. The whole southern border is under the hands of very, very dangerous people, especially for Omega civilians.” He came to put his hand on the ginger’s shoulder, a pleading look shot towards the ginger in hopes of him understanding. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something were to happen to you. So please, I’m begging you. Stay here. I promise you that we are doing everything we can to appease the revolts.” 

Hinata looked at the ground defeated. There was nothing he could do for now. He needed a plan, a way to get more information. A way to know what may have befallen to his little pack. 

“Suga will take you to your room. Please get some rest, you must be exhausted. I promise you that I’ll inform you of everything we know once you have rested, ok?” Oikawa tried with a smile one more time, satisfied once the ginger barely nodded and made his way with Suga by his side. He gave a long sigh before turning his way towards his brother, who, just by the concentrated look on his face and the scrunched up eyebrows, seemed to be caught in a deep internal struggle. “Tobio?” He asked the Alpha.

“Am I no longer bound to the throne?” Kageyama managed to get out as sudden and direct, that Oikawa barely had any time to come up with a subtle way to reply to him.

“No.” Oikawa got out before he tried to explain himself further. “I mean, you are still second in line, but you no longer have the title of crown prince, if that’s what you asked.” It wasn’t that Oikawa was worried about Tobio’s reaction to the news, but for the first time ever, he wondered in worry if maybe his brother would have wanted the throne after all.

Kageyama held the stare of Oikawa for a long second before smiling fondly. “Good. I’m really happy for you Tooru.” He said genuinely. “I know you’ll be a good leader.” He gave a small curt before turning to leave to his own chambers. 

Oikawa saw his brother leave the hall, a confused and unsettling feeling taking hold of his chest. 

“Tooru?” Iwaizumi came to his side. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Oikawa wasn’t sure, so he turned to Iwaizumi as confused as he felt. “I’m not sure.” He looked to see the back of his brother leaving. “I just have this overwhelming feeling of pride and fear. Where I should be happy but sad at the same time.” He finished with a tight fist over his chest, while Iwaizumi rubbed his hand over the king’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you go to rest? It must be all the anxiety finally catching up.” He suggested kindly.

Oikawa sighed heavily. “Yeah. That must be it. Thank you Iwa-chan.” He said sweetly as he let himself be led to their quarters.

  
  


\----- 

  
  


The stables were cold and smelly. It was only natural, given the hour in which Hinata had made his way to them. Shrouded in the shadows of the night, he just needed to get a horse and some provisions before leaving the castle and finding his sister. He couldn’t deny that he was scared, anxious and uncertain of his decision. Marching by himself to the current epicenter of what could turn into a full on civil war with just a stolen horse and good intentions didn’t sound as much as a plan. 

He forcefully swallowed his doubts. Natsu was in danger, and even if Oikawa tried his best to reassure him, he knew that it could be too late if he didn’t act soon. Omegas in times of war weren’t exactly treated with compassion. If you took into the equation that this could turn into a war in which the Omegas were seen as the catalyst of their misfortune? Yeah. He didn’t want to even think about it. 

He got close to one of the horses. The black fur and kind eyes made him recognize the stallion from Kageyama. A sudden tight feeling in his gut made him doubt his previous resolve. Was he planning on abandoning the Alpha without even saying goodbye? Why was he even having these doubts in the first place? Oikawa had said it. They didn’t have a bond. They didn’t share a physical connection. Both were free to follow whatever they wanted in their lives. 

His eyes threatened to uncover his worries. He forced himself not to cry and swat away the impending feelings and doubts creeping through his throat. If there was no bond, then why did it feel so wrong to leave? His inner Omega was whimpering and whining desperately to go for one last talk. One last sight of the Alpha. One final goodbye.

He shook his head, trying to physically drown the idea and the feelings that came with it as he prepared to saddle the horse up. He knew that if he were to go to the Alpha, all the resolve in him would melt at the idea of leaving the other behind. Oikawa had to have it wrong, there should be at least  _ something _ connecting them by their attempted bond. There was no way to explain the fondness and the  _ need _ for the other that Hinata was currently agonizing over. 

Hinata sighed heavily as he approached Kageyama’s horse. He reached for the reins of the animal, tugging them to his level, only for them to get tangled in a hook that was just a bit out of his reach. He tried getting in his tiptoes and grumbled as the reins refused to detach themselves from their spot.

“Need help?” 

Hinata jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice coming from the silence. He turned to see the subject of his distress leaning on the doorsill of the stables, a smirk on his face. As if he knew he had caught the shrimp in a compromising situation.

“I- I can explain-” Hinata stumbled on his words as he tried to come up with an excuse as to why he was on the stables, in the middle of the night, attempting to steal the prince’s horse.

Kageyama chuckled as he made his way to another horse’s enclosure and started saddling it instead. “This one is tamer, it won’t rebel as much as mine does.” Hinata looked at the other with a dumbfounded expression, unable to understand what was the other doing. “Besides, if we were to go only with Kaiser, we’ll end up killing the poor animal.” 

“We?” Hinata asked, trying to settle his confused mind on the matter.

Kageyama grunted as he gave a final tug on the straps of the horse. He went to Hinata’s side and grabbed the satchel the ginger was holding. “Yes. I’m going as well. I’m no longer the crown prince.” He smiled at the wide eyes of the Omega. “I’m free to go as I please.” He turned and placed the contents of the ginger’s pouch on the horse’s saddle bags.

Hinata just stood there, watching Kageyama with a gaping expression. Was the Alpha intended on going with him? Why? There was no real bond between them. There was no reason for him to want to join him. 

“But.” Hinata blinked away his fears. “Why?”

This time Kageyama looked at him in confusion. As if the other was stupid for just asking the question. “What do you mean why?” He asked. “I’m your mate. I’ll go where you go. That’s how it works.” He said as matter of factly. “I have to make sure that you don’t get yourself killed, idiot.”

“What?” Hinata asked back astonished. “You don’t have to come with me. Our bond is not even real!” He tried to reason.

Kageyama finished his work on the horse’s pouch and straightened his back. He gave Hinata a determined expression, locking his piercing eyes with the Omega’s. “You may think that our bond means nothing.” Kageyama said with a serious gaze, giving the Omega the weight to the words that were coming out of his mouth. “But I can assure you that your words meant everything to me.” 

Hinata snapped his mouth shut as his eyes grew watery. Why? Why did the Alpha have this power over him? Why was he feeling like running to the other again? Let himself be held by the Alpha. Be protected by him? Be bonded to him?

“When you announced yourself as my mate I was thrilled.” Kageyama continued, giving his full attention to Hinata. “For the first time in my life I felt the heaviness of a promise I wanted to fulfill. Of someone I wanted to protect, to remain by his side.  _ Your side _ . Bond or no bond, I want you to be my partner, Hinata. I want you to be my friend, my companion, my mate.”

He went to the horse’s side and untangled the reins for Hinata to hold. The Omega just stared at him, unable to say anything, waiting for his heart to stop pounding as wildly as it was. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t even think. He just stared at the other, half hoping, half knowing that the answers to his feelings would come from the mouth of the other. 

“When I saw your resolve while hearing the news from your sister, I knew you were going to go to her. I know that you aren’t someone to be bound to one place and I wouldn’t want to see your spirit locked up just because I’m afraid of you running away.” Kageyama was completely still, looking intently at the other’s brown eyes. “I used to think that Omegas were supposed to be protected by Alphas because they weren’t capable of doing so by themselves, but after meeting you and getting to know you, I realized now that it’s not because you aren’t capable, rather, the feeling comes from the fact that  _ I _ wouldn’t be able to live on knowing that something happened to you.” The tiniest blush came to Kageyama’s face. “That’s why I’ve come to this decision.” He made his way to stand in front of Hinata, bare inches separating them two. “I’m not letting you go.” He said, determinedly. “Not now, nor never.” He paused for a beat as the ginger’s eyes widened even more. “You said it once before to save my life, but now, I’m asking you with no threats whatsoever.” He stretched his shaky hand towards Hinata, the once subtle blush now full on display as he outspoke his thoughts. “Will you let me stay by your side while you promise to remain by mine?” 

He held the Omega’s shocked stare, a soft expression on his face, a look showing his hope that the other man would choose to accept him. No strings attached, no marks to dictate their actions. No instincts to blame their decision. Just himself and the promise to share the road up ahead. The uncertainties before them. The dangers approaching. The upcoming nights to rest and the days to come. Together. 

Hinata stared at the stretched hand, his emotions threatening to make him tear up again. All his fighting, all his rebellion on who he was, what he was, crumbled at the idea of those piercing blue eyes as the only constant in his life. He gave out a soft chuckle as he grabbed onto the Alpha’s hand tightly, the warmth seeping from the other’s fingers giving him a sudden and intrusive thought.

Maybe. Maybe a bond was not something he should be scared about. Maybe a bond was not this fearful and limiting chain to imprison him, but a crutch to support him. It was someone to lean on when you needed it the most. Someone who would help you make it to the end of your journey, someone who would wait for you till you’d be ready to even start it. It was someone who was willing to put his life on the line for the other. It was more than a bite, it was more than a mark. It was a promise. A promise that didn’t even need a physical proof, just the feelings between his fast beating heart and the shy smile coming from the man in front of him. 

Hinata smiled coyly, his heart filled with the warmth from the entangled hands of his Alpha. For the first time he didn’t feel afraid of his journey ahead, or the uncertainties his future might hold. He saw the man who had once been his enemy, sporting the same anxious smile, eager for  _ their _ new adventure. 

The grin spreaded and cut his face as his blinding smile finally settled his heart. He tightened the grip on the other’s hand trying to evoke the overwhelming feelings coursing through his chest. He pulled the Alpha to himself unsure on how to continue, the need to answer his question with more than words, more than vows. He grabbed Kageyama’s shirt collar and used it to propel himself towards the other’s lips, the untamed feelings that had threatened to drown him, finally subsiding as he realized what he had been craving for all this time.

As he felt the other deepening the kiss, holding him tightly in the shadows of the night, Hinata finally understood the answer to his turmoils. The name of his overwhelming feeling. The reason why this man, this Alpha held so much power over him. But for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel scared anymore. No. Right now, Hinata felt capable of taking on the whole world. There was no dread in their mission, no wall too high to loom over them, no enemy too threatening to avoid. Even if Natsu was in danger, even if they were marching towards the jaws of the lions, even if the world were to turn against them, Hinata wasn’t afraid. Because right now, with Kageyama, with his partner, with his mate by his side, he truly felt invincible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! First of all let me thank you all so much for being such wonderful and encouraging people. I dedicate this book to all of you! Without you and your wonderful response to this work I wouldn’t have been able to finish it. At all! This is all thanks to you and your theories, suggestions, sweet comments and moving words! I love you people! 
> 
> Now, to answer some of your doubts… Yes! We can all agree that I do not know the meaning of what an epilogue is, so, this is some kind of final-final chapter-prologue thing. As many of you may have guessed and hinted at, I’m planning a sequel! Or a sequel kind of sorts. It’s more a collection of short stories expanding the universe of Hunting Season. 
> 
> The reason for this is because I am finished with the story I wanted to tell throughout HS, but as I wrote it, a lot of other interesting world aspects started to intrigue me enough as to expand on them. But I didn’t want to throw all of it here, as they weren’t pivotal to the story I wanted to tell. (Like Tendou and Wakatoshi’s origin story, the experience of the other Omegas during the hunt or what the hell happened to the fourth Omega bought from the cabin.) This was the story of how Kageyama and Hinata came to meet and find each other, so diving too deeply on side-characters wouldn’t have moved the story I wanted to tell on Hunting Season.
> 
> Another reason for this format is that I want to try my hand on more mature and challenging topics for me and as I wanted to keep this story teenagers and up, well, I wouldn’t have been able to do so. So! With this format I can test the waters and grow as a writer while I expand a universe I’m comfortable with.
> 
> Now. When I’m going to publish them and how many there are going to be? I’m not so sure as I also want to start my other projects. But as I’m comfortable with the universe already, I feel like the stories will be easy to come up with. I’m already working on the direct short sequel where Natsu’s story will be explored, Kageyama and Hinata’s adventure and the upcoming threats for the new Omega king and so forth. 
> 
> I hope you liked this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! And I hope to see you soon with another update! Love you!
> 
> Want to know when the updates are coming?  
> Follow me on twitter! @Eguko_fics

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Love At First Scent?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411484) by [JuniperWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuniperWren/pseuds/JuniperWren)




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